Goooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[Teasing the Korean]

And all the drama really began around the 70-minute mark!  An incredible game.

[brownie]

Too bad for France that Griezmann seemed off on that final match when he could have made a différence that day!

Argentine was a deserving winner!

What a great match it was!

[porcy62]

10 minutes ago, brownie said:

Too bad for France that Griezmann seemed off on that final match when he could have made a différence that day!

Argentine was a deserving winner!

What a great match it was!

Do you think it has something to do with the flu that stormed the team the last days? Griezmann and others, Dembele ecc, seemed out of gas .

[Dmitry]

38 minutes ago, brownie said:

Too bad for France that Griezmann seemed off on that final match when he could have made a différence that day!

Argentine was a deserving winner!

What a great match it was!

He was playing defensive midfielder almost all tournament, in the absence of Kante. With Pogba and Benz, and the above-mentioned Kante, things would've been different for the French. Mbappe proved himself an amazing player, single-handedly dragging France almost the finish line. Lloris performed great, too!

[mjazzg]

5 hours ago, Dmitry said:

He was playing defensive midfielder almost all tournament, in the absence of Kante. With Pogba and Benz, and the above-mentioned Kante, things would've been different for the French. Mbappe proved himself an amazing player, single-handedly dragging France almost the finish line. Lloris performed great, too!

Really? I saw Greizmann playing a floating 10 behind Giroud seemingly with the freedom to roam into whatever space he saw for instance left wing for that sumptuous cross to defeat England.

The way Deschamps set up did require him to drop further into midfield especially against teams that pushed numbers through that area. He completed more tackles than he did in his previous guise supporting Benzema up top because he was tackling back.

But France's DM was definitely Tchouaméni. He was the Kanté replacement in all their games, shielding the back four. Most of the time he was partnered by Rabiot which granted Greizmann his freedom.

But maybe I read it wrong. Whatever his position he was a star if the tournament until the final where he faded. Lovely player.

[Brad]

On 12/19/2022 at 10:14 AM, Dmitry said:

He was playing defensive midfielder almost all tournament, in the absence of Kante. With Pogba and Benz, and the above-mentioned Kante, things would've been different for the French. Mbappe proved himself an amazing player, single-handedly dragging France almost the finish line. Lloris performed great, too!

One of the commentators mentioned that Lloris is not comfortable doing PK shootouts and it showed. Martinez was up for the challenge. 

[Dmitry]

The judgement day is coming.

This Sunday, it's either Everton, Leicester or Leeds that is going down. Everton is at 33 points, the other two are at 31. Only a victory will do for my Leicester City. Keeping hopeful, but realistic. The club is being mismanaged, and everyone knows it.

I do love the promotion/relegation system, which is not an option in major sports in the USA, where everything is "hooked up", as they say.

 

[mjazzg]

I struggle to understand leagues without promotion and relegation, takes away so much jeopardy. And I say that as a supporter of Reading FC relegated to League One this season.

How come Leicester City if you don't mind me asking?

[Dmitry]

We started following Leicester in 2015, when Vardy was unstoppable, and the Top 6 clubs weren't looking forward to playing at Filbert Way.

The absence of the relegation/promotion system in the USA is why I don't watch the sports on tv anymore.Takes away the dreams of small clubs rising from the bottom, and no-one is safe. I would imagine that being a fan of a local team has a significant community-bonding effect in the UK. There is nothing like it here in America. 

Too bad about Reading. Good old club. Perhaps they'll get back into the Championship next year.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Dmitry

[mjazzg]

2015 was crazy really. An example of everything coming together for one team whilst others just didn't fulfill their potential. I fear that won't happen again for a long time.

Yes, local support is a significant element for many clubs especially in lower leagues, but also for teams in the Premiership although most of the larger clubs aren't so local focussed now. It's very important to fans too and can really bring a town, smaller city or area of a larger city together. I lived in Arsenal country in their last successful period in the 90s and the celebrations were mad.

I started going to Reading as a 12 yo but moved away ten years later and now follow from afar. 

[Dub Modal]

There will never be relegation in the US, at least not in my lifetime. Minor leagues and college athletics (which are the minor leagues for football and basketball) dominate that secondary tier; and outside of traditional/original sports cities that's where you'll find most of the community-bonding among fandoms and towns. Relegation would kill interest in smaller market teams, which play in stadiums underwritten by local municipalities. Looking at that kind of economic consequence, legislatures would get involved and absolutely prevent it from happening - because taxpayers foot the bill for stadium construction.  

I don't think the UK has the same college-as-minor-league system correct? (and that's in any sport) It's a totally absurd system in just about every respect but it's so big in terms of revenue that it's basically permanent. Although the NBA's G League and Euro leagues are chipping away at college basketball's establishment, they're still not close to adopting any sort of relegation. And forget about US soccer. Maybe in 3023...

[Brad]

It’s incredible to think that Leicester was only champion a few short years ago. That championship was once in a lifetime thing. With the money presently awash in football, a small team winning a title is inconceivable. 

[mjazzg]

2 hours ago, Dub Modal said:

I don't think the UK has the same college-as-minor-league system correct? (and that's in any sport) 

No, not at all.

Minor league football (soccer) is still town/city focussed and is either semi-pro or amateur as you go down through the tiers.  The FA, our natonal football ruling body, has about 10 tiers in its pyramid. At the bottom you're looking at teams playing in very local leagues and representing small towns/villages. All tiers will have promotion/relegation making it feasible but very, very unlikely that a team representing a small town can rise through the pyramid to the four professional leagues. 

The FA Cup, an annual knockout competition is open to all clubs affiliated to the FA no matter which tier they play in. Occasionally a tier 5 or 6 amateur team will perform well enough to appear against a top tier side - that's what we quaintly call "the romance of the Cup" 

The same structure exists in rugby and cricket but is smaller as the sports are less popular.

Universities have there own inter-universiry competitions but they don't intersect with the structure above.

34 minutes ago, Brad said:

It’s incredible to think that Leicester was only champion a few short years ago. That championship was once in a lifetime thing. With the money presently awash in football, a small team winning a title is inconceivable. 

True but it's often overlooked that Leicester did have money from their Thai backers, not the amounts of Man City, Newcastle or Liverpool but they weren't financial minnows compared to all other sides and were probably the richest outside the big 5 or 6 at the time.

Edited May 23, 2023 by mjazzg

[Dmitry]

36 minutes ago, Brad said:

It’s incredible to think that Leicester was only champion a few short years ago. That championship was once in a lifetime thing. With the money presently awash in football, a small team winning a title is inconceivable. 

King Power, the conglomerate of the billionaire Srivaddhanaprabha family of Thailand which owns LCFC, took a very significant hit during the Covid air travel ban. KP is a chain of duty-free shops in South East Asia.

This video explains rather succinctly the Leicester business model, and how it has come undone. I will just add that the tragic death of the owner Vichai, who is lionized by the fans to this day, and  who was the force behind the family riches and loved his club, was a precipitating factor. His son Top doesn't seem to be nearly as involved with the football club as was his father. 

https://youtu.be/I6Ss0p2Oiro

 

 

 

[Dub Modal]

26 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

Minor league football (soccer) is still town/city focussed and is either semi-pro or amateur as you go down through the tiers.  The FA, our natonal football ruling body, has about 10 tiers in its pyramid. At the bottom you're looking at teams playing in very local leagues and representing small towns/villages. All tiers will have promotion/relegation making it feasible but very, very unlikely that a team representing a small town can rise through the pyramid to the four professional leagues. 

The FA Cup, an annual knockout competition is open to all clubs affiliated to the FA no matter which tier they play in. Occasionally a tier 5 or 6 amateur team will perform well enough to appear against a top tier side - that's what we quaintly call "the romance of the Cup" 

The same structure exists in rugby and cricket but is smaller as the sports are less popular.

Universities have there own inter-universiry competitions but they don't intersect with the structure above.

Interesting. Thanks for that. And I forgot to prefix "football" in my post as "American football." You caught it though 👍

[mjazzg]

5 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

Interesting. Thanks for that. And I forgot to prefix "football" in my post as "American football." You caught it though 👍

😃👍

[Rabshakeh]

4 hours ago, Dub Modal said:

There will never be relegation in the US, at least not in my lifetime. Minor leagues and college athletics (which are the minor leagues for football and basketball) dominate that secondary tier; and outside of traditional/original sports cities that's where you'll find most of the community-bonding among fandoms and towns. Relegation would kill interest in smaller market teams, which play in stadiums underwritten by local municipalities. Looking at that kind of economic consequence, legislatures would get involved and absolutely prevent it from happening - because taxpayers foot the bill for stadium construction.  

I don't think the UK has the same college-as-minor-league system correct? (and that's in any sport) It's a totally absurd system in just about every respect but it's so big in terms of revenue that it's basically permanent. Although the NBA's G League and Euro leagues are chipping away at college basketball's establishment, they're still not close to adopting any sort of relegation. And forget about US soccer. Maybe in 3023...

I find the college system in the US really interesting. Lots of my American colleagues are only interested in sports at the college level. It is interesting to me how that shows through. Perceived as more local and more intense. Also the only franchise in many parts of the country where the ability to start a team at grass roots level is restricted.

I suppose our closest here is the Championship (2nd tier) game, which does has more "heart" and more local feeling. Although having sat through the relentless negativism of the last season at my club, I'm not sure how much more local feeling I can take.

[mjazzg]

9 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

I find the college system in the US really interesting. Lots of my American colleagues are only interested in sports at the college level. It is interesting to me how that shows through. Perceived as more local and more intense. Also the only franchise in many parts of the country where the ability to start a team at grass roots level is restricted.

I suppose our closest here is the Championship (2nd tier) game, which does has more "heart" and more local feeling. Although having sat through the relentless negativism of the last season at my club, I'm not sure how much more local feeling I can take.

Of course you can 😁

[Brad]

King Power, while significant, was never the size of the “Kings of Araby” that own Man City. I only hope the Premier League make the charges stick. 

[Dub Modal]

12 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Although having sat through the relentless negativism of the last season at my club, I'm not sure how much more local feeling I can take.

Man, as a long suffering fan of my local uni's sports teams I feel you on this. Negative fans indulge in a toxicity that make it a tough environment. I've come around to ignoring all that and it's helped. 

[mjazzg]

17 minutes ago, Brad said:

King Power, while significant, was never the size of the “Kings of Araby” that own Man City. I only hope the Premier League make the charges stick. 

Me too, it's financial doping, next up Newcastle United. Oil state owned football clubs won't do anyone any favours apart from the money men. 

In contrast, Chelsea's experience this last season goes to show how poorly managed mega-spend doesn't work. Boehly's like a kid in a sweet shop.

Lots of coverage here of how City's premiership win has a bad taste to it although I fear that vested interets may find a way of prevailing. 

Edited May 24, 2023 by mjazzg

[Dmitry]

25 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

Lots of coverage here of how City's premiership win has a bad taste to it although I fear that vested interets may find a way of prevailing. 

Recently a participant in an online discussion I sometimes participate in, who referred to the "premiership' as another term for the PL,  was corrected by another participant to the effect that premiership was to be applied to rugby, not football.

[mjazzg]

45 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Recently a participant in an online discussion I sometimes participate in, who referred to the "premiership' as another term for the PL,  was corrected by another participant to the effect that premiership was to be applied to rugby, not football.

Yes, that's correct, rugby Premiership and football Premier League.

I shall pay my penance at the altar of sports marketing 🙃

[Dmitry]

14 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

Yes, that's correct, rugby Premiership and football Premier League.

I shall pay my penance at the altar of sports marketing 🙃

Interestingly, I know two Britons, one a Scot, another an Englishman, neither of whom could give a hoot about football, but they follow rugby very intensely. As i was explained, rugby is a toughness-building sport in schools, while football is not as popular.

[mjazzg]

24 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Interestingly, I know two Britons, one a Scot, another an Englishman, neither of whom could give a hoot about football, but they follow rugby very intensely. As i was explained, rugby is a toughness-building sport in schools, while football is not as popular.

There are two codes of rugby, Union and League. League is very much focussed in the northern industrial areas of England and here rugby can be very popular and played in state funded schools; traditionally Rugby League is a working class sport. 

Rugby Union is most often played in public schools (confusingly these are not open to all but fee paying establishments) and has a link to a more affluent socio-economic group as a result. Although in some regional centres in the South West it has a working class tradition too.

Only in some parts of northern England will Rugby League challenge football in popularity, not so Rugby Union anywhere.

I think in Scotland rugby Union may challenge football in popularity in some regions.  In Wales rugby Union rules supreme, part of the Welsh DNA practically

All rugby fans will make the claim that it's a toughness building game, part of it's raison d'etre.  I had the misfortune to play rugby in my teens, hated it - not fast enough to keep out of ttrouble, not big enough when I was in it!  Really enjoy watching it now although the very strong link with brain injury and damage is beginning to take the shine off for me.

Edited May 24, 2023 by mjazzg