OT: Soccer Wednesday Open Thread
Today’s Schedule:
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Round of 16, Leg 2, Day 4
3:45p Monaco v Manchester City – FS1 (Agg 3-5)
3:45p Atletico Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen – FS2 (Agg 4-2)
Notes
*Champions League Round of 16 involves 2 legs, of which this is the second. Away goals are accounted for in the knockout round.
*If you don’t see a league or team listed that you want to follow and discuss, let me know and I’ll add it (within reason). I’m not going out of my way to make sure Scunthorpe or Drogheda United are covered here.
*These Times are Eastern TIme
Enjoy, cheers, and Go Blue!
I have no particular hate or love for any of these teams, and two goal aggregates are quite a hurdle to overcome. So on the face of it this seems a pretty lackluster Champions League day.
Man City is particularly vexing. I really dislike that Man City is a super rich team that buys rather than develops players, and is an archetypal "new money" team. But I find their game really entertaining and they are bitter rivals with Man U. So that's about a wash.
I thought the same last week about a 4 goal aggregate!
March 15th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
Yeah, I am a huge City fan. Became a fan before the splash of cash arrived, and I have been riveted by the slow but steady progression to becoming an elite team. I will admit that the team has used big cash to bring guys in, but the common misnomer is that City is a team of Mercenaries. Nothing could be further from the truth. Zabaleta and Komapany have been at the club 10 yrs, Silva and Yaya 7 years, Aguero 6. I will say that I love Pep's approach to buying players. This year alone he signed Gundogan 25 yrs, Gabriel jesus 19 yrs old, Leroy Sane 20 yrs, Mooy from Australia and Marlos Moreno from Columbia, both young up and coming talents. To me, we are spending on youth and talent and not throwing big bucks at guys like Pogba, who are so overvalued that it's funny. You say that City doesn't develop players, and I would say that you are almost correct in that assumption. They haven't really done that until the last 3 years, now City's youth academy is regarded as one of the worlds best in terms of facilities and we have a number of kids that are ready for a breakthrough in the next couple years. Players like Iheanacho and Alexs Garcia have seen a number of games over the last 2 years, and guys like Brahim Diaz who just turned 17 will be making waves soon, the kid is a stud.
The one big draw for City, like you said, is the very entertaining style that we play in. Pellegrini had an attacking mindset, and Pep is all attack all day long. We do play a superior brand of futbol to the likes of our rival Man United and Maureen, who thinks parking the bus and eeking out 1-0 wins is what the fans want to see. Pep wants to put on a show for the fans and get wins, and I love that approach. Pep will be here a while, because he wants to develop this club from the youth academy up, but I agree that takes time. But, once City fix their defensive issues, I don't think there will be any question that we will have a top top club. Right now I consider us second tier to the Barca, Real, Bayern's of the world.
March 15th, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^
Monaco has a very potent attack. I wouldn't count them out. They've scored 3 away goals already which probably will give them the tiebreaker. (It would have been nice if they'd converted that penalty though...)
March 15th, 2017 at 11:45 AM ^
I agree, this game has me very nervous today. Monaco are no joke at all. I think City is a better overall team, but the back 5 is worrisome, and we know that Monaco are top notch in attack. Having Falcao out or at least questionable is a blow, and City are pretty much healthy at the moment, should be a good game.
March 15th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
Homefield advantage is gigantic in soccer. A 2-goal deficit at home is not insurmountable by any means, especially if you've scored on the away leg.
... that spends his oh so precious time on each of these threads entering just to downvote is Magnus... you should feel free to repay him in kind wherever he posts.
Except he has about a zillion points, and it wouldn't bother him a bit.
March 15th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
Also, downvotes to threads don't effect MGoPoints. Only comments.
March 15th, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^
Interesting... I never really know how MGoPoints work
March 15th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
See subject line.
March 15th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^
Worth something? Can he turn those in for money?
No, dick. Some people care, others don't. Logic says you care less when you have more.
Tiger, easy.
Why people care about mythical points on a message board is beyond me.
Hello sarcasm? It's me. Sarcasm...
It's been a long day :(
was merely pointing out that he does it and if people felt like it they could return the sentiment.
Do I think he will care? Not about the points, but perhaps if he realizes he appears douchy/douche-like/doushe-ish...like an asshole...by doing so....who knows? Maybe he will not bother in the future.
I'll probably continue to do it. It doesn't make me a douchebag or an asshole. It makes me a person who finds repeated, off-topic soccer threads annoying. And just like you find my negging annoying and it makes you want to neg me...I find the topics annoying and choose to neg them.
Hooray for the power bestowed upon us by Brian to show what we like and dislike!
Anyway, neg me all you want. I've been negged lots of times before, and I'm still alive and kicking. I think I'll be okay.
March 16th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^
Douchebag... You earned it.
I'll paste this again here, see if you recognize anyone....
Aaaand...bonus points if we all have a tacit agreement to downvote to Bolivia anyone who shows up in the thread to state how much they don't like soccer and how it is such a giant waste of their PRECIOUS TIME to see a thread title about soccer and rather than take the millisecond of time required to read past the thread about soccer and ignore it.... they feel utterly compelled to take the 2-5 minutes of their PRECIOUS, IMPORTANT TIME to click on the thread title and write a diatribe about how they HATE soccer sooooo much and how having threads about it on THEIR blog is a major inconvenience because of how IMPORTANT THEY are and how PRECIOUS THEIR TIME is...and that they hate soccer and don't see why anyone would like it. Then....when someone politely points out that they could have just not clicked on it...they explain that....SOMETIMES what happens is it makes other thread titles that they feel are more important move farther down the list of titles (putting Internet back of hand to forehead for dramatic effect) and THIS is a big problem....for ME. Soccer doesn't have as much GOALS SCORED so it is boring and sucks...nothing happens when you're not scoring a goal. Don't change the subject...we are not here to talk about how much of my PRECIOUS TIME I have wasted on writing this compared to how little time it takes to right click on the "more" link and open it in a new tab to see if I missed any thread titles...we are here to discuss why I hate soccer and why you should too AND how important I and MY TIME are! Because my Mom said I was important. Why do you like soccer so much? I can't keep arguing with you...there are windmills to joust and Dulcinea awaits!
March 15th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
March 15th, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^
Pulling for a Monaco resurgence, as well as at least something halfway interesting to follow in the other match.
March 15th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
Definitely pulling for my City boys to not choke and get the victory. It should be an entertaining game though. Our defense is so suspect that this 2nd leg is far from being over, and Monaco have some really nice young players. Love Mbappe, that kid is going to be special. With the fixture congestion, my main concern is fatigue, especially considering we put out a very strong side on the weekend in the FA cup.
Go USA!!
Kylian Mbappé wastes little time showing again why he will be one of the most sought-after players in Europe this summer.
5-4 City on aggregate now.
Whoops.
5-5!
What a start for the Monégasques!
It looks like my boys are headed out of this tourney. Monaco are looking great and we look listless. Hope halftime wakes these guys up, because right now, Monaco will advance.
And City takes back the lead. Is Monaco going to fall apart in the last 20 minutes of the match again? Stay tuned...
Down goes Shit-Eh.
Just a pathetic performance from my boys. Defensive issues are the backbreaker for us. Congrats to Monaco, a great attacking side, but City arrived at the party at halftime, and that was the killer. Oh well, we weren't winning anything with the back 5 that we have right now. maybe the FA Cup is realistic, but I can't see that happening either. Just have to lock up top 4 and hope for improvements in the back in the offseason.
The Premier Leauge is horrible. In six seasons the Premier League has only had 5Champions League quarter-finalists. Same time period Spain has had 17. Even lowly Ligue1 has had 7
It's tougher for the league in general when the FA has no fucking clue what they are doing in regards to scheduling. The fixture congestion at this time of year is ridiculous. Plus the EPl is a very competetive league. It's easy to get up for UCl when you are in the french league, because the french league is not competetive at all. La liga is usually a 2-3 team race. I'm not saying those leagues aren't good, but they at least give their teams breaks during the season, especially over the xmas holiday. My boys were atrocious tonight, but I don't think the league is horrible.
It's easy to get up for UCl when you are in the french league, because the french league is not competetive at all.
Have you checked the Ligue 1 standings? It's a much closer race than the EPL's, which Chelsea is walking away with. Monaco has been in a dogfight with PSG and Nice all season.
The EPL excuses are tiresome. If the schedule were really the culprit, we should be seeing English clubs dominate in the fall, when they're fresher, but they don't then, either. They're just not as good as their supporters want to believe.
Let me get this straight.
The ONLY EPL team left in the final 8 of the UCL is.... Leicester City?
A month ago, who would have thunk THAT?