Bloody Football!

[JenniferParisHusband]

I got lucky, I was an LA Galaxy fan from when I lived in LA, even though I live closer to another (crappier) team now. The MLS is a strange league. It is a lot tougher than people give it credit for being. It's nowhere near the elite European leagues yet, but I watch a team in Spain like Real Madrid, and expect them to destroy any MLS team. Then I watch a team like Villareal, and I think, "Oh the Galaxy would just slaughter them, even on a bad day." Watching the MLS is literally like watching Ligue Un, if you took away the top 6 teams. The fans are actually kind of brilliant. They are really starting to become like true European fans (obnoxious at times, and with cheeky chants). The thing they don't quite get yet, is that the talent from abroad is still light years better.

I look at Stevie G, and think the man is a genius. My friend who is an MLS fanatic thinks we paid too much for him. He's only scored one goal, and two assists. But I watch him, and the magic is still there, he's just not sure how to play with these guys. The MLS is a different kind of beast. It's almost a thug league where creativity is a shortcoming, and you really have to power your way to goals. Like 80's English football, I guess. But it's still Steven Gerrard. The passes are magic, you can see the years of instinct there, and what he wants to do with plays, but the other guys on the team just don't seem to play at that level. I think the Galaxy was a poor fit for his style and abilities, so he gets the "old" label. He'd have done better with DC or Columbus. I would never wish playing in Columbus on my worst enemy though. That town is awful. Of course, the Stadium in LA is near South Central and Watts, so it's not exactly a wonderland either.

Lampard. Frak me I hate that guy, still. And New York FC might as well be Man City's bench. I don't really know what's going on with him. Last I checked, he has only been in 1 game, and barely played 15 minutes of it. That team is loaded with Midfielders though, and I think Pirlo gets played more often. There's a US National Team player named Mix Diskerud, he's one of the stars of the league, and the MLS really encourages US Men's team players get a lot of starts. But he's still floating around 16 games, 3 goals and a few assists. So NYFC isn't lighting up the league. At this rate, I think Lampard is going to be leaving New York soon anyway. If he doesn't retire, he may go off to someplace like Bristol Rovers. Frankie is probably having the harder time of it. For now anyway, Gerrard gets more first team action.

Yeah, that sucks. Hopefully Celtic will move on to the group stage. The only thing I really have against the Champions League is the monotony of the teams that are in the final rounds each year. It may be an American thing, but I'd really like to see a team like my Lorient, which has no chance of ever competing against the PSG's, and Lille's of the world, win the cup. Instead Real Madrid will probably get their 11th. Although I'm still confident that Barca is unstoppable. But that's the only real reason I would like to see Celtic and Rangers in the Prem, and maybe fold the Scottish league in to England. The theory is that it would force those teams to compete. Don't think it would work in practice. I mean, Swansea isn't getting anywhere near Europe for a while. But its a nice thought.

[Laphroaig]

Well, I've been proved wrong on a couple of things already. Both Pellegrini and Mourinho have just signed new long term contracts. Mind you contracts in football are nearly meaningless these days.

I'm watching the highlights of yesterdays EPL just now.

Thanks for the insight into the MLS, I admit to almost complete ignorance about football (I refuse to call the game soccer) in America.

Swansea actually did quite well in the Europa league a couple of years ago, getting out of the group stages and ultimately being knocked out by Napoli. The trade off was that their league form sufferred hugely that season.

[JenniferParisHusband]

Yeah, I'm waiting for Rogers to get a new contract, then will laugh as Liverpool go into an October meltdown, and they fire him.

Hey I don't blame you for not wanting to call it soccer. We got stuck with the name because of the Brits. They said "We'll call it Soccer" and once we started saying it they were like "Screw it, we'll call it football." We just didn't bother to go back.
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/th...123344142.html

It's really hard to watch the MLS sometimes if you really like the European game. It is a different beast right now. All physical, less creative. I think of it as the England teams in the 60's and 70's, compared with today's game. They're catching up. But if you are used to watching European teams play, it really is like watching a kids league. But, the good thing is, we are learning, and learning quickly. We've actually got a few leagues, and hopefully in the next 20 years will develop a tier system like most of the other leagues use. But right now, the MLS is the top group, no relegation, and there is a second lower tier in the NASL, (Yes, it sounds like Nasal) North American Soccer League, and the third tier USL. It gets frustrating because there is no relegation, and teams end up in the MLS not because of the fan support or talent, but because the city is big enough to support a team with attendance over a certain level. So the reality becomes, there are some awful MLS teams which make the league look boring, and some brilliant NASL teams who never get seen.

I've got to be honest, I don't know why the women's leagues aren't catching on in Europe the way they did here. But the women's league is probably the best football you can watch here in the States.

I must have blocked Swansea in the Europa League out of my head the way I do all the England participants in Eurovision. (Honestly, can't remember a damn one without having to look them up! But the Russian girl this year, damn!) How far back was that? Was that a Brendan Rogers team?

If you are watching the highlights from today, I can save you some time. Liverpool and Stoke was a cure for insomnia up until about the 75th minute.

[Laphroaig]

Interesting link.

Womens football (righty or wrongly) has a reputation for poor quality. There was a spark of interest in the media when it looked like England might reach the World Cup Final but with their ultimate failure, it's almost immediately vanished. I'll be honest, I didn't watch a single minute of the recent womens world cup and I know many avid football fans who simply won't give womans football the time of day. If womens football in Europe is to be successful, they need to target the next generation of supporters. Most of us "traditional" supporters are too stuck in our ways to pay any attention to it. That may well be our loss but it's pretty much the way it is.

As for Swansea, it was 2013/14, so Laudrup (although the last fixture might have been Monk)

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague...hes/index.html

I didn't watch the highlights from yesterday. I had the Liverpool game on the radio in the background and even the commentator called it boring...

Still, early season games are more about the results than the performance. Brendan Rodgers and Louis Van Gaal will be fairly happy, Mourinho will be annoyed and Wenger might be suicidal.

[Jamietxox]

So what does everybody reckon to Mourinho's treatment of the Chelsea first team doctor then?

[Laphroaig]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33890769

It's ridiculous. She was called onto the field by the ref and was just doing her job. The health of the players should always come first.
Even worse is the response to her facebook post, thanking everyone for their support.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33906491

[JenniferParisHusband]

So what does everybody reckon to Mourinho's treatment of the Chelsea first team doctor then?

I don't like Mourinho, for the obvious reasons, but also because he has a tendency to act like a tool from time to time. This was definitely one of those times. There is so much concern about concussions and player health now, and to go after a doctor for doing her job. Ludicrous. If would be different if this were some local yob who ran out onto the pitch, but like Laph said, the Ref waved her on. Play wasn't going to continue, Hazard would have to leave the pitch anyway. There was always going to be a point where Chelski had 9 men on, and the amount of time lost wasn't that much. Ultimately, it didn't even matter. Watching that match, there was nothing the shite-blues were going to do to change that outcome, even if they had 20 men on the pitch.

If the physio hadn't been a woman, Mourinho wouldn't have made the comments. He's a pig. And the lack of class shown by the fans to her is disgusting.

[JenniferParisHusband]

I love how Wayne Goonie forgets that Goal Differential matters, and instead of putting a one on one with the keeper away against Villa, decides to shoot if off for a throw in. Apparently he doesn't have "just enough education to perform."

[Laphroaig]

I don't know if it's true but from what I've heard of the match, it was a full hour before Rooney (or Shrek as we usually call him) actually got a touch in the opposition box.

Roll on tomorrows big game, Man City v Chelsea. Although, 9 times out of 10, the games with the big build up are the damp squibs.

ps. What did you make of Barca's humiliation by Bilbao?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33939433

[JenniferParisHusband]

Barca's match was a fluke. Messi looked out of sorts the whole time. I don't think that the squad that came out on the pitch knew how to play together either. I don't know if that was from Bilbao's form and plan, or if it was just an off day, I'm guessing it was an off day. I would not want to be the team that plays them next. This might have been the wake up call from a season where they thought they could win on cruise control. I still think they are the team to beat in Europe.

I got to Man U(re)'s match late on. I think about the 80th minute. But they didn't look like they were winning in convincing fashion while I was watching. When Shrek got the ball at the end and had a one on one with keeper, he could have easily made a move to get the keeper to commit, and gone the other way and scored. He was that open. It's sporting that he wanted to take the 1-0 win and all, and put it in the corner to kill the clock. But he only took a second off it before giving it back. If he had put it in the back of the net, that game was over. I just don't get it.

NBC just played the first hour of the Swansea documentary "Jack to a King" today, we get part 2 next weekend. Didn't get to Laudrup, but maybe next week. I'm sure they'll mention the Europa League thing. Probably never would have started watching it though if not for our conversation earlier. Thanks!