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Post by stamper on Jul 20, 2011 8:01:43 GMT -8
thanx for the heads up - but watching Manchester United play against anyone not-named Arsenal or even Chelsea is about as interesting to me as watching paint dry. fucking hate United.
good luck to your boys, and may you absolutely destroy them!
you know what... fuck it! I'll watch your Sounders play United.
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Post by Pea on Jul 20, 2011 8:15:50 GMT -8
It will be a beatdown no doubt, but should be a great atmosphere and big friendlies like this do a lot for soccer in the US.
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Post by Pea on Jul 20, 2011 8:18:55 GMT -8
you know what... fuck it! I'll watch your Sounders play United. Smoochies. Just a heads up, we'll probably be playing some trialists and odd lineup changes tonight since we're right in the middle of our transfer window, so I doubt we'll be in tip top form. One of our best strikers is coming back for the first time since April from blood clot surgery as well. Should be interesting.
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Post by stamper on Jul 20, 2011 8:44:31 GMT -8
fair enough, and i'm sure United won't be playing at full-strength, either.
still... BRAGGING RIGHTS
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Post by Pea on Jul 20, 2011 8:49:13 GMT -8
Barca destroyed us 5-0 in '09 but we managed to knock off Celtic FC 4-0 laat year. I'll settle for a cool draw tonight
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Post by Pea on Jul 20, 2011 8:54:12 GMT -8
Err, disregard that Celtic score. I'm truly an idiot.
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Post by stamper on Jul 21, 2011 5:52:09 GMT -8
umm....
*thoughts?*
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Post by Pea on Jul 21, 2011 7:42:13 GMT -8
I predicted 8-0, but I'm still fucking pissed. Our starters held their own wonderfully for the first half. Subbing the ENTIRE starting lineup (sans 1 defender) for our 2nd and 3rd string and a trialist who has never played a singer match with the team was a fucking embarrassing sham. Our coach will have some serious questions to answer for putting our B squad up against the most prolific team in the world. It sucks that the Sounders are tied for most wins in the league, in 2nd place overall, but now are the joke of the soccer world. That match didn't reflect the amazing season we've had or the team we've built in the least bit. I'm extremely disappointed that that was the first taste of the Sounders you ever got.
FUCK.
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Post by stamper on Jul 21, 2011 8:40:22 GMT -8
sorry, Pea, it was ugly. The 3 goals Utd scored in about 150 seconds was pretty laughable - and i fucking hate Utd.
Still, it really does show you that despite how far the MLS has come since its creation, the quality of talent is still only as high as the English Championship or English League One.
I would like to see the Sounders play a team like Hull City or Nottingham Forest or even Watford. I still think those teams would ultimately come out on top, but it would be a much more evenly played match.
On a positive note, keep your head high, Pea - even the best of squads take a thrashing every once in a while!
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Post by Pea on Jul 21, 2011 8:43:22 GMT -8
Had we left our starters in it would have been a 4-1 result at worst. The players we put in at half have barely seen more than 15 minutes of play their entire careers. Ugh.
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Post by Pea on Jul 21, 2011 8:47:57 GMT -8
What gets me most about the match is what is has potentially done to our momentum. We're on a 9 game unbeaten streak and are dominating the MLS right now. Despite being a pointless exhibition, I can see this getting into the players' heads and upsetting the flow we've had lately. It's too fucking crucial of a point in the season for these ridiculous friendlies.
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Post by stamper on Jul 21, 2011 8:56:48 GMT -8
man, i would love for my Gunners to come stateside for a friendly.
but it looks like New York will be visiting Arsenal for the Emirates Cup. that'll be a fun game to watch. Henry returning to the Emirates!
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Post by Pea on Jul 21, 2011 9:03:24 GMT -8
Oh snap! That should be interesting. I hope NY gets creamed haha.
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Post by J. Walter Weatherman on Jul 24, 2011 14:07:45 GMT -8
What gets me most about the match is what is has potentially done to our momentum. We're on a 9 game unbeaten streak and are dominating the MLS right now. Despite being a pointless exhibition, I can see this getting into the players' heads and upsetting the flow we've had lately. It's too fucking crucial of a point in the season for these ridiculous friendlies. Well at least it wasn't the starters that were in the whole game then, right?
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Post by stamper on Jul 29, 2011 11:24:55 GMT -8
the US just named Jurgen Klinsmann as the new coach.
here's just a small snipped of the wisdom the Americans can expect to learn from the Flying German...
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Post by davers on Jul 29, 2011 16:05:58 GMT -8
I love the flail he does after he hits the ground.
The dives are probably one of the main things that keep me from watching soccer on a semi regular basis. Get them to stop crying like babies every time they touch each other and the sport would likely gain a good chunk of fans, especially in North America.
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Post by davers on Jul 29, 2011 16:09:00 GMT -8
Also, the way the ref handed out the card reminded me of this:
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Post by stamper on Jul 30, 2011 7:49:01 GMT -8
I love the flail he does after he hits the ground. The dives are probably one of the main things that keep me from watching soccer on a semi regular basis. Get them to stop crying like babies every time they touch each other and the sport would likely gain a good chunk of fans, especially in North America. nobody argues that diving is a major nuisance to the game, but your claim that it's what prevents Americans and Canadians (don't make a blanket statement of North America - because soccer is the number one sport in Mexico and the Caribbean - over 150,000,000 people - which is part of North America) from fully embracing the sport is just silly. there are several reasons why it's the 4th most popular professional team sport, but diving doesn't even crack the top 5 of reasons. sorry.
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Rusty
North American Scumfoot
Posts: 710
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Post by Rusty on Jul 30, 2011 10:51:19 GMT -8
I love the flail he does after he hits the ground. The dives are probably one of the main things that keep me from watching soccer on a semi regular basis. Get them to stop crying like babies every time they touch each other and the sport would likely gain a good chunk of fans, especially in North America. nobody argues that diving is a major nuisance to the game, but your claim that it's what prevents Americans and Canadians (don't make a blanket statement of North America - because soccer is the number one sport in Mexico and the Caribbean - over 150,000,000 people - which is part of North America) from fully embracing the sport is just silly. there are several reasons why it's the 4th most popular professional team sport, but diving doesn't even crack the top 5 of reasons. sorry. Davers made no mention of it becoming the number 1 sport in North America (by the way he only meant the U.S and Canada even though Mexico should be included) he only said if you removed or lessened the amount of diving, it would, "gain a good chunk of fans", and I think that is a totally accurate statement. A good deal of my friends hate soccer for one reason, and it IS the diving.
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Post by stamper on Jul 30, 2011 12:37:54 GMT -8
i never said that davers made a mention of soccer becoming the number 1 sport in North America - i did say that soccer is the number one sport in two specific regions of North America (incidentally, the same two regions many Americans/Canadians forget is actually part of North America)
i also never said diving isn't a reason why some people haven't fully embraced soccer - but i did say it wasn't one of the five most common reasons.
however, maybe i assumed "gain a good chunk of fans" meant something entirely different than he intended. perhaps he had a small number in mind. (something like, i dunno - 5000 - 10,000 fans) but if a "good chunk" means something like 100,000-200,000+, then removing diving from the game isn't gonna cut it.
either way, as i said before - nobody denies that diving is an irritating nuisance the sport has to deal with - but as irritating as it is - diving is not the chief concern as to why it doesn't have a MUCH broader fanbase among the 307 million Americans and 33 million Canadians in existence.
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