So the transfer season is over until January. Which teams do you think came out ahead?
Christian Pulisic: is he the real deal? Discuss.
I’m watching the Manchester Derby. As an Arsenal fan I don’t have a dog in this hunt, but I do like to José Mourinho get his knickers in a twist.
Grow up. Both of you.
Speaking of Arsenal, tough luck for Jack Wilshere, but it’s been nearly two years since he has had a full ninety for Arsenal. One hopes that this spell at Bournemouth will help.
Belated congratulations to Brazil for finally getting the Olympic Gold Medal in men’s football against Germany. While getting the medal on penalties doesn’t come anywhere near avenging a 7-1 pasting, it takes some of the sting out of it.
Finally, speaking of the Olympics, I watched my first five-a-side football for blind players in the Paralympics last night. Quite an impressive skill level among these players. Here’s a link to the rules.
dedc79
Enjoying Manchester derby as warm-up to Tottenham v Stoke
Corner Stone
Dammit.
Tomato Queen
Ooo a footy thread huzzah. TOONster mesen, for my sins, but maybe we’re at turnaround. We’ll know more today whether, cash result notwithstanding, our transfer window business was a success.
Big Ole Hound
….and all 12 of you guys who care about Brit football, have at it. This is also American professional football’s opening weekend in case you hadn’t noticed.
Amir Khalid
@Big Ole Hound:
Oh, there’s more than 12 of us, I assure you. And I’m sure there’ll be a hand-egg thread up shortly.
I’m not too happy with Liverpool’s transfer window. Mane was a good catch, but we still need a better first-choice keeper than Mignolet and a better defence. If Mamadou Sakho has learned his disciplinary lesson then well and good, but Herr Klopp will still need reinforcements in the back four.
Jose has lost his first Manchester league derby — at home. He won’t like that. I do hope he doesn’t take it out on the team doctor again.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Big Ole Hound:
And every fucking (remaining) game is tomorrow or Monday, so unbind your shorts.
Gonna call on valued commenter Raven here to jocksplain to you about not whizzing on soccer in a soccer thread.
Randinho
@Steeplejack (phone): -I’ll do the honors.
@Big Ole Hound: I get that you’re an NFL fan. I used to be a big 49ers’ fan, but dropped my interest in them and the sport right around the time that they signed Lawrence Phillips. The issue surrounding concussions soured me even more.
Here’s what I don’t do, however: when I see an NFL open thread or a NCAA open thread, I scroll past and don’t get in the comments section to criticize the sport or the level of fan interest in it. Do you think you could afford us the same courtesy?
Zarley
Re Pulisic, he definitely looks like the real deal. The bits I saw last year with Dortmund, he didn’t look out of place at all — as a 17 year old. In this past weeks game for the USMNT against Trinidad and Tobago, he was our best player.
He’s still a teen-ager, but his potential is incredibly compelling. He’s composed with the ball and shows good creative ability. I’m fully onboard the Pulisic hype-train.
dedc79
Son! Twice! COYS
burnspbesq
Try;ing to figure out why Donovan is back.
piratedan
@burnspbesq: there’s money to be made and checks to cash…
Digital Amish
Oh boy! Saturday Game Day, everybody is donning their school colors, and an open football thread! And it’s all about … Oh. Never mind.
burnspbesq
Liverpool opens the new Main Stand today, increasing Anfield’s capacity by 8,500. Klopp wants a Red Wall to tival the Yellow Wall in Dortmund. I wouldn’t bet against it.
burnspbesq
@Digital Amish:
Organized Brain Damage will have its own thread soon enough.
raven
Since I’m recovering from surgery I gave my ticket to my buddy to take his son to his first Georgia game!
raven
@burnspbesq: And whiny asshole lawyer can stay here where the fuck she belongs.
JMG
It’s a perfect division of labor for the sports fan. The Premier League games are in the morning and the American football games start at noon. There’s no conflict here.
BTW, Harry Kane gets off the schneid for Spurs.
Michael Bersin
Speaking of contact sports – on the press riser at Hillary Clinton’s speech at the National Baptist Convention in Kansas City on Thursday evening:
Media narrative? What media narrative?
I had expensive audio and camera gear in my hands, otherwise I would have probably thrown something directly at the CNN reporter live on the air doing a stand up at the front of the riser while Hillary was speaking. They set up a light which blocked my camera (on a six foot tripod) line of sight to the podium. I’ll repeat, while she was speaking.
Culture of Truth
currently watching ST TOS marathon on BBC America
BillCinSD
@Amir Khalid:
They signed Karius but he’s been hurt — made the bench today for the first time
@piratedan: Donovan had a broadcasting job that probably paid more than the amount he’s going to get from the Galaxy.
Randinho
@Digital Amish: In 2006, a friend of mine from Australia, Tim Dunlop invited me to post about the 2006 World Cup at his now defunct blog, The Road to Surfdom. I obliged and it was well-received.
In January 2010, I sent an e-mail to John Cole offering to blog during the 2010 World Cup. John’s response: “I bet the folks would love that! Send me a username and password and I’ll set you up.” I did an introductory post and did not post again until May, shortly before the WC started. It was also well received and John offered to have me post about the sport,including league play as well as major competition. I have done so, sporadically to be sure for league play, but regularly for competitions including the Copa America, CONCACAF Gold Cup, European Championship and Women’s World Cup.It has generally been very well received.
I mention all this to make it clear that my posts on this subject are not merely welcomed, but they have been encouraged, both by the owners of the blogs and the readership with an occasional exception.
One consistent thread that seems to run through so many of these comments sections on websites dealing with this sport are the appearance of people who seem compelled to deride the most popular sport in the world in the comments. I cannot understand for the life of me the pathology behind this. It is not a zero sum situation. If I post about football (and I use that term as it has been used for far longer than it has been used for gridiron football) it does not mean that there will be one less post about the NFL, NBA, NCAA, NHL, tennis, track and field, synchronized swimming or whatever captures your fancy.
Amir Khalid
@BillCinSD:
Mignlet’s just gone and given away another goal. 2-1 Liverpool. We did not need to hand the momentum back to Leicester City.
ETA: Sorry, that goal was Leiva Lucas’ fault.
Amir Khalid
Lallana! Yes! 3-1 to Liverpool!
Big Ole Hound
@Steeplejack (phone): Way too thin skinned for a little thing like calling all 22 of you out. Only 23 comments so far and the American college football game isn’t even being discussed but let me bow out of “your” discussion.
M.C. Simon Milligan
Haha! “Rasen Ballsport” Leipzig steals 3 points late from
die ArschlockenDortmund!Have to take some consolation. Wolfsburg looked flat in a nil-nil draw with Koln and Schalke… well, Schalke is Schalke.
burnspbesq
@raven:
Heh.
Tomato Queen
Gouffran scored. We scored from a set piece. Yedlin scores on his debut. TOON is playing well. I blame Rafa.
Oh, Klopp has new glasses. Much better than the old ones.
Randinho
@Big Ole Hound: Not thin-skinned, just sick and effing tired of it and wondering wtf you non-football fans feel a need t do this.
DLew On Roids
Brazil put everything they could into winning the Olympics for the first time while Germany sent its D team. If Brazil thinks its gold medal is redemptive, it’ll kick off another lost generation and fall further behind the Europeans.
Randinho
@DLew On Roids: it’s an under 23 tournament in essence. The sentiment here isn’t that it’s redemptive, they’re just happy that they were able to get the gold.
Their play in the last couple of WC qualifiers has been much better and there is high hope that their new coach, Tite, former coach of Corinthians will be better. Gabriel Jesus is quite impressive and their midfield play recently showed a lot more teamwork and skill than it did in 2014. We’ll see.
DLew On Roids
American football fans whining about soccer remind me of American Christians who think they’re being persecuted.
DLew On Roids
@Randinho: Yeah, Tite was a very good hire. Whether he’s retained through a couple of tough results (see: Mano Menezes) remains to be seen.
Winning in Ecuador was impressive, though I heard a theory last week that as Ecuador’s players have become more attractive to foreign clubs, they’re losing their altitude advantage. Either way, the real problem for Brazil beyond institutional ones is they aren’t developing players anymore. From the outside, it seems like clubs don’t think the players will stick around long enough for it to be worth it. Any truth to that?
Tony J
Very late to the thread, the dreaded words “Let’s just pop into Ikea on the way home, it won’t take long.” we’re uttered and, well, this is what happens.
Liverpool 4-1 Leicester. Get in.
So far this season we’ve beaten (and well beaten) the teams who came 1st and 2nd last season, outplayed but drew (away) with the team who finished 3rd, and lost 2-0 to a newly promoted side. Something tells me that if we can solve the eternal Liverpool conundrum of breaking down teams who park the bus and hit us on the break (you know, ‘cowardly’ teams – snark) we have a real chance of challenging for the title.
Oh, and we might need an actual defense at some point. Can’t always bank on scoring more than the other guy when you spot him a couple of easy ones.
Randinho
@DLew On Roids: This.
@DLew On Roids: Let’s take Cruzeiro, my team as an example. It’s one of only five that have never been relegated and won the Brazilian championship in four times, including 2013 and 2014. After they won in 2014, they sold some of their best players, principally to teams in China. They finished 8th last year and after a long time mired in the relegatin zone, have clawed their way up to 12th.
Lke so many clubs, they are mired in all sorts of financial problems and probably corruption, although I know no specific allegations. Corruption pretty much permeates all aspects of life here, not just the political world. There’s an appalling tolerance for it among people in their daily lives and there is probably no better example of it than the fact that this is a hotbed of multilevel marketing schemes.
Shalimar
I always read the soccer threads and appreciate them being posted, though I am not sure I have ever commented in one before. Thank you for them, Randinho.
Calming Influence
As a biologist, I happen to know that a seahawk will land on a dolphin’s back and peck the shit out of it until said dolphin wishes it had never come within 1,000 miles of Puget Sound.
This is not an opinion; it’s science.
Randinho
@Shalimar: Thank you for the kind words.
Victor Matheson
Was in Rio to work on the Olympics last month. Security was very tight, and with all of the police and military presence on the streets, it was my first visit to Brazil where I had almost no concerns about my personal safety.
Except when I accidentally wandered past the training grounds of the Fluminense club while wearing my Flamengo jersey…
Greg Gabrielse
Futsal world Cup is also going on.
HeartlandLiberal
A friend an I attended the Saturday afternoon Indiana U Hoosiers home opener vs. Ball State, also here in Indiana. At half time, we sat stunned as the Hoosiers, which is infamous for lousy football, ran up a 30 – 3 margin and lead. Of course, they did not disappoint us. With just under five minutes left in game, Ball State had run up 17 points, and had 20, and we had not scored another single point. Only a Hoosier fan is used to sitting there with five minutes left on the clock, and not being able to relax until the clock is at zero and you still hung on to the margin to win. It was really a bizarre performance by the team and the new quarter back. How the heck do you score 30 in first half, and ZERO in the second half??????
Randinho
@Victor Matheson: Yeah, not a wise move.