European soccer is back in Charlotte

[Seoul_Panther]

3 hours ago, run-run-pass-punt said:

Oh, I'm proud to be a Toffee! I'm just disappointed at the direction of some things, both within the team and the EPL in general. I've been a fan for years and years, and am happy to ride the highs and lows, though.  And I'm sure I've heard of your team. ;) Soccer is my #1 sport (well, neck and neck with baseball depending on my mood.) As much as I love the NFL, I could never love it quite as much as those two sports.

My team is AFC Wimbledon. They were one of the founder members of the EPL but In a move that is unprecedented and sacrilegious in England but normal in the US, they were franchised to another town. It only happened because the team was disliked by football authorities and had no financial clout with a small fan base.

  The supporters wouldn’t let the legacy die so they started a new team. But they had to start at the very bottom tier (something like 9 or more divisions below the EPL) of the English football pyramid. Basically a pub team playing on public pitches. They had no money and held a public audition for players on Wimbledon common.

 20 years on we’re only 2 divisions below the EPL. The team that bought us is now below us in the football pyramid.

Perhaps this somewhat explains my bitterness towards how money has taken over the sport in England.

[Panthers8969]

man i better make a thread complaining that this isn't a soccer discussion forum

[*FreeFua*]

Ranking my favorite soccer players 

1. Alex Morgan

2. Anouk Hoogendijk 

3. Hope Solo

4. @RoaringRiot what a stud

 

For more rankings and mock drafts you can visit my website at: www.*freefua*thoughts.gov.www\*freefua*thoughts

[RoaringRiot]

42 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

Ranking my favorite soccer players 

1. Alex Morgan

2. Anouk Hoogendijk 

3. Hope Solo

4. @RoaringRiot what a stud

 

For more rankings and mock drafts you can visit my website at: www.*freefua*thoughts.gov.www\*freefua*thoughts

Debatable 

[tiger7_88]

22 hours ago, ARSEN said:

Liverpool and Dortmund will squire off on July 22nd at Bank of America stadium.  Going to be insane.

Tickets supposedly go on sale to the public on May 1.

My son and I already have reservations at the Courtyard Marriott City Center.  Just gotta make sure we get tickets.

Coincidentally enough, myself and my son's favorite teams are Liverpool and Dortmund.  Of course, many of the top players won't be there because the World Cup would have just finished shortly before.  Liverpool players like Virgil Van Dyke and Gini Wijnaldum and Andy Robertson should be there because the Dutch and Scots aren't in the World Cup and James Milner because he's retired from international play... and Pulisic (unless he's sold) for Dortmund since the USA crashed out of the WC.

So, yeah, still effin' excited!

[tiger7_88]

21 hours ago, Seoul_Panther said:

 If you know anything about England you will know that South American players rarely excel there and frequently can’t deal with the weather.

Roberto Firmino

Philip Coutinho (now at Barca)

Sergio Aguero

Alexi Sanchez

Ederson Moraes

Gabriel Jesus

Willian

[tiger7_88]

21 hours ago, Seoul_Panther said:

These exhibition matches are frequently conducted at walking pace

You must not ever watch Liverpool.

At all.

[tiger7_88]

8 hours ago, run-run-pass-punt said:

(I'm a big Everton supporter, btw. Sigh.)

My condolences. 

(P.S. If your management retains Big Sam, y'all might be fighting off relegation next year.  Don't do that.)

[Seoul_Panther]

2 minutes ago, tiger7_88 said:

You must not ever watch Liverpool.

At all.

Seen em 4 times live including Anfield- league and cup. Last time in Kuala Lumpur two years ago for preseason.

[tiger7_88]

1 minute ago, Seoul_Panther said:

Seen em 4 times live including Anfield- league and cup. Last time in Kuala Lumpur two years ago for preseason.

So all times that were pre-Klopp Liverpool.

So my statement remains valid.  Klopp's squads don't train and practice by walking.  If you think so then, again, you must not have ever watched a Klopp Liverpool squad play.

[Seoul_Panther]

12 minutes ago, tiger7_88 said:

Roberto Firmino

Philip Coutinho (now at Barca)

Sergio Aguero

Alexi Sanchez

Ederson Moraes

Gabriel Jesus

Willian

 Only really superb South Americans to excel in England are Aguero and Sanchez. Both recently and both lured here with mega money contracts from Spain.

  If you really do follow EPL you will see many South American players take at least a year to adapt to the physicality of the league-including Aguero and Sanchez. They find the lack of Christmas break unlike other Euro leagues hard to handle. Don’t like the weather either.

[Seoul_Panther]

1 minute ago, tiger7_88 said:

So all times that were pre-Klopp Liverpool.

So my statement remains valid.  Klopp's squads don't train and practice by walking.  If you think so then, again, you must not have ever watched a Klopp Liverpool squad play.

Really Klopp wasn’t there 2 seasons ago? You might want to fact check that.

[tiger7_88]

4 minutes ago, Seoul_Panther said:

Only really superb South Americans to excel in England are Aguero and Sanchez.

So you're saying that Barcelona paid £142M for a player (Coutinho) that isn't superb?

And Jesus and Willian are most definitely superb players.  As is Firmino. 

Ederson?  I'll give you I was stretching a bit there.

[Seoul_Panther]

4 minutes ago, tiger7_88 said:

So my statement remains valid.  Klopp's squads don't train and practice by walking.  

Firstly. I never said they did. I said the tempo of preseason games is often walking pace. Second. How the hell would you know? Watch a lot of practice ground sessions at Anfield do you? You think players constantly run in practice? I think you sound like someone who didn’t grow up playing the game. Also unnecessarily defensive. It’s actually smart not to run yourself into the ground in preseason in challenging weather.