Gasperini just slaughtered Ilicic: “Stop complaining and find something to do”Now subs him out after subbing him on in the 56th minute— Siavoush Fallahi (@SiavoushF) February 24, 2021
Thats why Gasperini is a boss. I seen him complaining when the guy cleared the ball down the line instead of to him. Not the time to be complaining about passing when youre digging in for a result. Really not the game to be bringing him on either. Pressing with 10 men isnt his thing. He had the sulky attitude and they made the sub right before that corner possibly resulting in a lose of concentration. He should be apologising to the squad tomorrow. They fully deserved the draw. Madrid are shit.
Bartomeu and several ex-Barca officials were arrested this morning relating to Barcagate and apparently money laundering. Edit: It sounds like Bartomeu had a financial stake in the PR company he used to smear Barca players and political rivals., and was way overpaying what their normal rate was using Barca’s money. Bartomeu also structured the payments to be just small enough so he didn’t have to get approval from the board.
@falvo Was it you who was trying to convince others about how MLS is consistently becoming a stronger league?
Not really. I mean Pre Covid , they were growing with each passing year and grew from 10 teams in 2004 to 26 teams in 2020. I hope they do one day become a strong league. Presently though, they are maybe on par with the lower teams of the Serie A, the majority of the Serie B or top teams of the C1. They do have much stronger attendances than most of those level teams. They do have better , newer stadiums and training facilities than any of the ones I noticed when I lived in Italy. AS Roma's Trigoria's practice field for example , is crap and no one in Serie A currently has a ground like Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium. Even though they play on Fieldturf.
Ah okay well I disagree on the Serie B or upper half of C1 relation. It's more like low level Serie A. To compare Liga MX with Serie B would be disrespectful in the eyes of Liga MX fans and MLS is the equivalent of Liga MX at this point. Regardless, I think you're right how it was growing with each passing year and I can now see the direction it's heading in and I can get behind it. Wasn't sure if it was you or another poster, I remembered someone in these boards was positive about the growth of the league.
Only 2 American players in history have played in Italy. Alexi Lalas for Padova who was average in pre MLS days and Oguchi Onyewu who never played a game at Milan. Other's like Weston McKennie and Bryan Reynolds came up with their MLS youth squads and they will have never been considered for a Serie A roster spot 2 years ago had it not been for the leagues growth. You have to give them credit for the strides they have made in such a short period of time. I just hope this Covid crap doesn't end up killing the league as already one expansion team in Sacramento has pulled out.
Ya I agree and in regards to Sacramento; Pheonix, Las Vegas, Detroit, New Mexico, San Diego, Indianapolis, and Louisville are all apparently in talks with MLS should the Sacramento bid officially collapse (If they can't find a buyer to take over the Sacramento project).
I forgot about AS Roma's Michael Bradley. He was actually the 3rd American born player who played in Italy for Chievo and then Roma. He wasn't a star by any means just an average player but he did hold his own. A lot better than Lalas or Onyewu.
All you have to do is look at the kind of players coming out of North America now vs 10 years ago to see the difference. Teams weren’t dropping millions on North American teenagers then.
100% agree. I also don't think this is just a fad, I think this is going to be the new normal. Americans and Canadians are going to start becoming regulars at World Cups (America already is). I also think it will have a direct relation with MLS becoming even stronger which will raise their salary cap as interest grows and eventually they won't need the DP rule anymore because the salary cap will be high enough for them to have multiple stars fit in the cap.
American athletes already dominate the world in most sports. Few for example can beat at USA in basketball or baseball at the Olympics. Same with wrestling , swimming , track and field and so many other sports that no one mentions. The only reason Americans were never any good at soccer traditionally was because for starters, there was never a league in place and since the 90’s few players were given opportunities to play on European teams. Even now it’s difficult for most Americans to sign as there is always a bias against the American soccer and their players. Athletically , they are in my opinion much faster more physical and stronger in many respects than their Euro or Latin counterparts. The problem is that is not what the game is all about. What they lacking in are tactics , technique , movement off of the ball , skill and style. After all the years of following youth , college and since MLS started in 1996 , I’ve yet seen an American style of play. Weston McKennie has opened a lot of eyes in Italy this season but he is really the first one that a team like Juve would take a chance on. Even he though hasn’t really developed much of a style but he has had a good season scoring 4 goals in 21 games as a midfielder and he is only 22 years old. Maybe with his success more players will follow.
You'll see in time if this is just a talented crop coming through in a bunch like so often happens in generation cycles or if it continues in a steady stream which would be the most unlikely.
That's like a 6 foot 2 dude in a dress smashing womans sports and celebrating it as some huge accomplishment.
Lol what. The opposite is true. American players are more marketable and therefore more likely to get chances.
American soccer players are more marketable? Since when and compared to whom? For as long as I remember European clubs and coaches refused to look at American players just because they were from the USA or American. Even today , many clubs and coaches place a stigma on MLS or American players and there is a total bias when signing them. Especially until recently across Europe there was a total snobbery towards them and for this reason few have signed. There is a reason why there are only 2 in Italy and if that weren't true you would have had more players than just Weston Mckennie and recently signed Bryan Reynolds who has yet appeared.
Make up your mind and stop contradicting yourself? In a post above you said you're yet to see an American style, it's all running and strength. Now you're saying the only reason Americans were looked past was because of some snobbery. They were looked past because they wernt at the technical level to other players. Scouts want the best possible. Why not pick a kid miles ahead technically? Its possible the americsn youth system has now improved to start producing better technical players. Hence teams looking at them now. Nothing to do with snobbery. Its just business. Americans arnt marketable in America? What did American owners buy Bradley and pimp him to the American market? Why would JP have done that... for his footballing contribution ?lolz it because he believed he could have broken into an untapped market. Bradley was an average at best player who got signed because of his nationality amd very lucky to have worn a Roma shirt. The first sign of competition he went back to an easy contract and semi retirement at what, 26?