The Fire suuuuuck, so what other Soccer, Football, Fútbol are you watching?

Oh damn, MHS has one called back. Looked good to me!

 

Ah well the replay has proven me wrong. Must have been doctored!

 

Apparently a few of my posts meant for the game day thread ended up here. The dangers of having BigSoccer open in multiple browser tabs, I guess, and an indication that my life is so exciting that I spend Saturday night with multiple browser tabs open to BigSoccer ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Was watching St. Louis at San Jose but St. Lou is already up 2-0 in minute 25, so switching over to América / Monterrey.

 

Good guys win again! Roma 1 - Nazio 0

 

I was going to write watch the Eintracht Frankfurt - Union Berlin match featuring Union's young German striker Ilyas Ansah. Of course he already scored at 9' and Union have added a second. I've commented on Ansah here before.. He was bought from 2. BL Paderborn for $4 million in the summer window and may fetch 10-20x that after the big clubs come calling which will be soon. He stands 6'-51/2" with speed and a rocket shot. It's not to much a stretch to see another Haaland style striker in him.

EDIT: Just before the half dual national (US) and German U-21 international Nene Brown got a heel on a goal bound shot to

 

Where it really matters; Red Cards:

Roma 0 - Nazio 2

 

The match got pretty wild in the 2nd half. Oliver Burke bagged 2 more early second half goals for a 4-1 Union lead. Eintracht recovered from their midweek European hangover to fight back to 4-3 on a late penalty. In a surprising development, while protesting the PK call Union manager Steffen Baumgart earned only his first career sendoff, but Union held on to win.

 

Coppa Italia, Palermo going on the road to Udinese starts at 11:30. Hoping the rosanero can advance.

 

We can dream. Match on Paramount+ BTW.

 

We had a solid 40 minutes with multiple opportunities that we couldn’t put away, but feel asleep the last 5 minutes of the 1st half and let 2 go in. 15 minutes left to make it interesting.

 

Cut the lead in half but 7 minutes of stoppage time wasn’t enough for Palermo to draw level and force PKs. Still, a nice test where the team didn’t look overmatched by a higher level club- hopefully with promotion we see Udinese again next year and get revenge.

 

Palermo owned the first half hour, but their defense let them down before the half. Lots of second half whatevering until the too little too late goal. I'm disappointed City Group hasn't put more into Palermo.

 

It has taken longer than I would’ve liked, but they do have us positioned pretty well to challenge for auto promotion this year. Before CFG made the purchase, we had gone from D to C to B in consecutive seasons after being dissolved and restarted. We were told the first year was a transition year for CFG to assess, then we would see changes and make our push the next year. That didn’t happen, and was a disappointment, but this year feels like a course correction under Pippo.

Against a Serie A squad we started a mix of our first and second string players, so I don’t know that victory was the primary objective, even though it would have been great. Now the focus is on promotion and if we can avoid a playoff and get promoted directly all will be forgiven for me. Well, except for all of the stuff CFG does that has nothing to do with soccer, but that’s a different thread.

 

One of my very favorite managers has a thought:

Martin O'Neill: "xG? It's total nonsense. You've got to remember what the game is about... winning football matches, that means scoring goals, not recording the expectation of them." "'Expected goals' have only come about in the last few years. It's a clueless development. Some people just use these words to try to sound clever." ​

📊❌ Martin O'Neill: "xG? It's total nonsense. You've got to remember what the game is about... winning football matches, that means scoring goals, not recording the expectation of them."

"'Expected goals' have only come about in the last few years. It's a clueless development.… pic.twitter.com/1Q0SI0cWFn

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) September 24, 2025

 

Yet ANOTHER reason that Martin O'Neill is also one of my favorite managers.
Of course, he said it better, but all parts of what he said are things I have been harping about for the past couple of years.

Well said, Mr. O'Neill.

 

Celtic in Europa League

 

That's a bit of a feat.

 

Sunday, October 12, 2025

2026 US Open Cup 2nd Round

Chicago House AC (IL/MPL) v. Wisloka Chicago (IL/UPSL) 8:00 pm

 

Athleti hosting Real. There are goals & the customary aggro of a derby.

Julian Alvarez with a FK golazo, azo azo azo!

Down by 2 goals Real players are falling like autumn leaves at the slightest hint of contact. Of course.

Future Fire DP Antoine Griezmann is into the match late.

 

And in stoppage time future Fire DP Antoine Griezmann drops the cherry on top of a 5-2 Atleti win!

 

Some shocking stupidity in the EPL (which sucks).

The startling good Crystal Palace (now second) took a 1-0 lead against champs Liverpool.

AS ALWAYS, Liverpool managed to tie with a few minutes left.

The shocking thing was that Crystal Palace scored in the 7th minute of 6 minutes of extra time to hand Liverpool their first loss of the season.
It is usually Liverpool that steals matches at the end.

This is, of course, after Crystal Palace beat Manchester City in May to win the FA Cup
and
Beat Liverpool in August to win the "Community Shield."

The Eagles have been soaring at Selhurst Park, which is a dump, but a fun place to see matches.

 

Top four in the EPL (which sucks):

Liverpool
Crystal Palace
Sunderland
Bournemouth

I like it!

It won't happen, but would be great if that is how the season ended.

 

While waiting for the Roma match to kick off I'm watching Aston Villa & Fulham. While the EPL sucks, Raul Jimenez does not suck and he scored a very early goal for Fulham.

Minutes later Raul has to go off with a hip injury possibly a result of his goal.

His sub, Adama Traorè took full advantage of the time it took to change into his match shirt by showing the world his physique which is more suited to the other football (as the Brit announcers often note). It must have been shown on the big screen inside Villa Park as there was an audible reaction. Traorè was also shown inside my living room and my wife, who is not the type to ogle beefcake let out a firm WOW.

 

As things stand, Roma are in second.