2019-2020 Soccer Thread..........

[Liverpooldawg]

The name change reflects that a lot of stuff besides the EPL gets talked about in this thread.

The silly season is well underway. I see about 2 dozen Liverpool rumors every morning on my news feeds. There has been nothing earth shattering yet really for anyone. The biggest news so far isn't that much of a surprise and it came out today. Raffa is leaving Newcastle after he and the ownership couldn't come to terms on renewal of his contract. Newcastle can't get out of their own way.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Well, Newcastle has gone from potentially being rid of their asshole owner to being rid of Rafa because their asshole owner wouldn't meet his demands. The first few games at St. James this season are going to be glorious assuming the fan base hasn't finally been broken

[BrunswickDawg]

Well, Newcastle has gone from potentially being rid of their asshole owner to being rid of Rafa because their asshole owner wouldn't meet his demands. The first few games at St. James this season are going to be glorious assuming the fan base hasn't finally been broken

I work with a Newcastle guy - literally, born and raised there. He is livid. When I asked about it, he started speaking geordie he was so mad. Couldn't make out a damn word.

[Liverpooldawg]

Newcastle has nearly all the ingredients to be a contender: big stadium (by EPL standards); a large, fanatical fanbase; they are a LOT of people's second favorite team; they even have a cool "IN" city to play in. The front office management and ownership is just awful. I remember when Kevin Keegan had them on top 10 points clear at Christmas. It looked like they were going to do it, and then Keegan and the team wilted under the relentless pressure of a charging Manchester United in their prime and Sir Alex's mind games. Newcastle have yet to recover.

I guess the other big one so far was Hazard, but then that was expected too.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Newcastle has nearly all the ingredients to be a contender: big stadium (by EPL standards); a large, fanatical fanbase; they are a LOT of people's second favorite team; they even have a cool "IN" city to play in. The front office management and ownership is just awful. I remember when Kevin Keegan had them on top 10 points clear at Christmas. It looked like they were going to do it, and then Keegan and the team wilted under the relentless pressure of a charging Manchester United in their prime and Sir Alex's mind games. Newcastle have yet to recover.

I guess the other big one so far was Hazard, but then that was expected too.

There's no reason other than totally incompetent ownership that Newcastle can't be in Everton's tier on the PL hierarchy. But so far this they've failed to re-sign a world class manager who wanted to stay at the club due to penny pinching
They failed to sign a quality striker (Rondon) who wanted to stay at the club on a permanent deal due to penny pinching
They lost their top scorer to fricking Leicester, another club on an ever growing list of clubs who should not have more spending power than Newcastle but does. And certainly shouldn't be able to pluck our best player from us
They've yet to add any players in this window, let alone a quality player
And to cap it all off, they supposedly tried to pay Sheffield Wednesday $6m for the old dinosaur known as Steve Bruce to be the new manager. But even he, who is from the northeast and probably won't ever get another chance in the PL, is balking on the terms of the contract and/or the promises being made to him.

[DawgHouseUnited]

So is anyone interested in another fantasy league this year?

[War Machine Dawg]

I'd be down for another fantasy league.

[War Machine Dawg]

Arsenal are having quite the interesting summer. After weeks of no movement, everything has started to happen within the last week. We signed a young Brazilian prospect, Gabriel Martinelli. We've brought in William Saliba, but loaned him back to St. Etienne. I actually like the move. We've loaned Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid. And we've gotten a deal done for Nicolas Pepe from Lille. That could be officially announced as early as tomorrow. We're still looking for one more central defender and trying to get a deal over the line for Kieran Tierney from Celtic. I think the Tierney deal gets done, but time is pretty short to bring in another center half.

On the outgoing front, nothing really worth noting has happened yet. Club captain Laurent Koscielny has basically quit the club, refusing to go on the preseason tour to the US. Supposedly we had a meeting with his reps and officials from Rennes yesterday to try to get the situation resolved and move him on. We'd like to move ?zil, Mkhitaryan, Mustafi, Elneny and Jenkinson, but there's been virtually no chatter on anyone leaving. Then news broke yesterday that Monaco is interested in Mustafi. I'm a bit skeptical, but hoping it's real. He needs a fresh start somewhere else and Arsenal could use the funds. We're also likely to sell Krystian Bielik, although no one really understands why. He's got a good reputation, had a really good loan last year and plays in an area where we really need help. But supposedly Emery doesn't rate him, so he's on the chopping block. Word is he's attracting interest from several Championship clubs, notably Charlton where he was on loan last season and helped them earn promotion.

[DawgHouseUnited]

I'd be down for another fantasy league.

I might can get one or two other guys interested that aren't ED guys.

[DawgHouseUnited]

If anyone is interested, I've got a league started. It's just me right now so feel free to join in- PM me for the invitation code!

[BrunswickDawg]

If anyone is interested, I've got a league started. It's just me right now so feel free to join in- PM me for the invitation code!

I've never done one - but have done baseball for 20+ years. Can you tell me a little bit about how they work?

[DawgHouseUnited]

I've never done one - but have done baseball for 20+ years. Can you tell me a little bit about how they work?

This one is fairly simple- it's only my 2nd time. Just register and fill up a team. 15 players and you play around with how much money you spend on each. 2 goalies, 5 defensemen, 5 midfielders, and 3 forwards. Then you can arrange your starting 11 however you want. You can get started at fantasy.premierleague.com for more details.

[Liverpooldawg]

THIS is Liverpool.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/trent-alexander-arnold-liverpool-football-club?utm_medium=fw&utm_source=red-bass-twitter

[DawgHouseUnited]

If anyone is interested, here's the thing to join a league in fantasy PL.


Hi

I'm playing Fantasy Premier League in a league called HailStateDawgHouse. Why not join me?

The code to join this league is: naq9se

Enjoy the game!

[Tbonewannabe]

So what is Chelsea doing exactly? It seems like they got Christian and are now tearing the team apart. Losing Hazard and Luiz is some tough losses. I just casually follow it so I was curious why they are going through this.

[Liverpooldawg]

Great first half but if we lost Allison for any length of time, there goes any shot at the league. You will have to be dang near perfect to top City, and Allison was the best keeper in the league.

[Liverpooldawg]

So what is Chelsea doing exactly? It seems like they got Christian and are now tearing the team apart. Losing Hazard and Luiz is some tough losses. I just casually follow it so I was curious why they are going through this.

Chelski's real problem is that Roman Abromavitch can't get a U.K. VISA anymore. He is buddies with Putin and since the fall out from the assassination in Salisbury Putin's buddies aren't welcome in the U.K. He isn't spending like he did. I also expect the fact that even he can't out cheat Manchester City now when it comes to the FFP rules took some of the fun out of it for him.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

So what is Chelsea doing exactly? It seems like they got Christian and are now tearing the team apart. Losing Hazard and Luiz is some tough losses. I just casually follow it so I was curious why they are going through this.

Hazard was ready to go. They sold him this summer because they were going to lose him for free next summer. He also wanted to go last summer or the summer before but they didn't sell him, and he didn't make a fuss about it, refuse to play or anything like that so I feel like there was a degree of respect involved.

David Luiz is 32 years old and I think Chelsea usually has a policy of not resigning 30+ year old players, so it was strange that they resigned him to begin with. Then Lampard came in and didn't promise him 1st team minutes and he asked to leave.

Then of course they can't bring in any replacements with the transfer ban. Chelsea might be in trouble over the next few seasons.

[Liverpooldawg]

City and Sprurs.....fantastic game. VAR strikes again in a match between these two. It finished 2-2 after City had a goal in the 92nd minute disallowed due to the new handball rule, and it was found by the video ref. Liverpool's stand in keeper is a comedy show, but he does make some decent saves. His gaffs haven't cost us....YET. Hurry back Allison!

[Liverpooldawg]

Liverpool 3 Arsenal 1. First top of the table clash of the season.

[Liverpooldawg]

Bury were expelled from the Football League today, Bolton have 14 days to avoid the same fate. I don't know what happens next. I suppose they might land in non-league football, that's the 5th tier at the highest, but that's going to be very hard to do and support that club's infrastructure. It would be almost impossible for Bolton. Liverpool came very close to this under the disaster that was the previous ownership. It essentially happened to Rangers in Scotland. The Rangers of today are NOT the same club as before. That club was liquidated.

https://global.espn.com/football/english-league-one/story/3930093/bury-expelled-from-efl-after-takeover-collapse

[Tbonewannabe]

I know it isn't Premier League but Atlanta United won the US Open Cup last night over Minnesota United. It is an awesome experience if anyone is ever around Atlanta and want to experience a great sports atmosphere. I have been several times and I just want to go to a game in the Supporters Section. It looks like a great time.

[Liverpooldawg]

Potentially tricky tie away to Burnly.....3-0 to Liverpool. First clean sheet of the season.

[Liverpooldawg]

I went to a League Two game in England today, Swindon Town @ Cambridge United. Swindon won 1-0. Interesting experience and a fun two hours even if it was a sorry game. We contemplated going up to London tomorrow to go to Chelsea-Liverpool but away tickets were 350 pounds plus fees in their equivalent of Stubhub. We were sitting 2nd row about 10 seats from the home bench in Cambridge. I bought the tickets two weeks ago from the club for 15 pounds each. Did I mention Cambridge only missed relegation to non-league football by one spot and one point last year? LOL! In fairness they were 8th going into today. Unfortunately Swindon were 4th and it showed. Cambridge's wide players were not good going forward. Swindon shut down the middle. Cambridge had only a couple of good chances but both were saved, one spectacularly. Swindon only had about four themselves, but they took one and that was the game.

[Liverpooldawg]

Chelski 1 Liverpool 2. I watched it in a pub in Cambridge that was either Chelsea or hostilely neutral. Interesting experience! Great win for the Reds.

[Tbonewannabe]

I went to a League Two game in England today, Swindon Town @ Cambridge United. Swindon won 1-0. Interesting experience and a fun two hours even if it was a sorry game. We contemplated going up to London tomorrow to go to Chelsea-Liverpool but away tickets were 350 pounds plus fees in their equivalent of Stubhub. We were sitting 2nd row about 10 seats from the home bench in Cambridge. I bought the tickets two weeks ago from the club for 15 pounds each. Did I mention Cambridge only missed relegation to non-league football by one spot and one point last year? LOL! In fairness they were 8th going into today. Unfortunately Swindon were 4th and it showed. Cambridge's wide players were not good going forward. Swindon shut down the middle. Cambridge had only a couple of good chances but both were saved, one spectacularly. Swindon only had about four themselves, but they took one and that was the game.

So how does the atmosphere in the lower leagues compare to college football?

[War Machine Dawg]

#EmeryOut He's clueless and actually made us worse than under Wenger, despite having superior talent. The dude has no clue how to improve a defense, but he makes up for it by having a really terrible offense. That takes a helluva lot of skill, especially when you have arguably the best striker in the PL on your team.

To be fair, Arsenal's side of mostly kids crushed Forest 5-0 in the Carabao Cup today. It was arguably the most enjoyable game we've played under Emery. That said, he's got to go and the sooner the better. If he doesn't go, we're going to blow a golden opportunity to finish in the top 3-4 with Sp*rs being Sp*rs and Chelski & ManUre arguably being bigger dumpster fires than Arsenal at the moment.

[Liverpooldawg]

So how does the atmosphere in the lower leagues compare to college football?

It was pretty good, it would have been better had the home team won. Crowd was about4k

[Liverpooldawg]

I'll come back with a little more in a couple of days. We just got back home and I'm wiped out.

[Liverpooldawg]

The atmosphere at the League Two game was pretty good. The stadium holds about 8k, about half of it terraced standing room. There were between 4 and 5 k there. There were four stands in the typical English style. Two stands were standing only. One of those, the bigger of the two, was half closed off. The remaining half was half full. The other one behind one of the goals was where their hard core support stood. It was pretty full. The bigger of the seated stands, where we were, was about 3/4 full. The others was half closed and the open part was half full of away supporters. It was a crappy game so neither set of fans was able to really get into it, though they tried. Both sets did the typical English singing. The home supporters around us got pretty restless and as we were very close to the bench they started getting in the manager. The favorite word is 17. The guy behind us was like 17 this, 17 that, 17 me, etc. He was pretty funny. Like I said in the above post the wide game going forward for Cambridge was terrible. The guy yelled out one time "If you aren't going to use it over here Colin (the manager's name) don't let all that space go to waste. Plant some vegetables for 17's sake." A little later on a winger named Jones finally tried to run down our side. The wit behind me yelled out, "Mind the carrots Jones!" There was a lot of stuff like that. The away supporters had a great time as the game wound down and after. We enjoyed it.

[Liverpooldawg]

As for the Liverpool-Chelski game in the pub.....it was fun too.....but with a catch. We were out doing things on Sunday and got in in time to go to a pub to watch the second half. It wasn't carried on the TV at the hotel. Par for the course there. I wasn't planning around getting back in time to see the game so I didn't really think about what I had on. It was raining so I had on a black rain jacket zipped up when we went in. I forgot about the red t-shirt I had on. It was a generic T but still. Even after I realized what kind of crowd we were in I still gave no thought to the shirt. It was only after I had said something to my son that was quietly pro Liverpool and he told me to be quiet that I remembered the shirt. I had taken off the jacket......I sort of slid it back on. No problems really as Cambridge is a laid back, cosmopolitan place...but still. It IS in England and I appeared to be the only Liverpool supporter in the place. Fun stuff!

[Tbonewannabe]

The atmosphere at the League Two game was pretty good. The stadium holds about 8k, about half of it terraced standing room. There were between 4 and 5 k there. There were four stands in the typical English style. Two stands were standing only. One of those, the bigger of the two, was half closed off. The remaining half was half full. The other one behind one of the goals was where their hard core support stood. It was pretty full. The bigger of the seated stands, where we were, was about 3/4 full. The others was half closed and the open part was half full of away supporters. It was a crappy game so neither set of fans was able to really get into it, though they tried. Both sets did the typical English singing. The home supporters around us got pretty restless and as we were very close to the bench they started getting in the manager. The favorite word is 17. The guy behind us was like 17 this, 17 that, 17 me, etc. He was pretty funny. Like I said in the above post the wide game going forward for Cambridge was terrible. The guy yelled out one time "If you aren't going to use it over here Colin (the manager's name) don't let all that space go to waste. Plant some vegetables for 17's sake." A little later on a winger named Jones finally tried to run down our side. The wit behind me yelled out, "Mind the carrots Jones!" There was a lot of stuff like that. The away supporters had a great time as the game wound down and after. We enjoyed it.

I just traveled to Europe for the first time this year (Ireland) and I noticed a lot of people say 17. Our tour guide said that everyone says it and it doesn't have the stigma like in the US. Sounds like a good time. We want to go to London within the next two years and I hope to get a Premier League game in. I would love to compare it to Atlanta United (best MLS atmosphere) although I haven't got into the Supporters Section yet in Atlanta.

[Liverpooldawg]

I just traveled to Europe for the first time this year (Ireland) and I noticed a lot of people say 17. Our tour guide said that everyone says it and it doesn't have the stigma like in the US. Sounds like a good time. We want to go to London within the next two years and I hope to get a Premier League game in. I would love to compare it to Atlanta United (best MLS atmosphere) although I haven't got into the Supporters Section yet in Atlanta.

I don't know about the atmosphere at a better/bigger game, but the game itself is much better than MLS in the upper English divisions. After watching the League Two game I'd say it wasn't much, if any, below MLS. Prices for the EPL are all over the place. There were two games we could have made in London. One was Liverpool-Chelski. On the resale market there were seats in the Chelsea sections for about 250 pounds. I obviously would have had to have away tickets, no way I could have kept quiet at that one. Those were 350. Throw in train and tube tickets and it would have been close to 425 pounds each for the day, not counting food/drink. For the two of us who would have gone it would have been at least a 1000 pound ($1250) day. That was just too much with everything else we were spending on the trip. We also could have gone to Wolves at Crystal Palace. Those tickets were around 85-125 pounds. We seriously considered this. Palace is one of my other teams. The reason we settled on Cambridge was it was about a 30 minute walk to the stadium from the hotel, and the price. We still had most of the day to do other things. Going to Crystal Palace would have blown the whole day. Cambridge is about an hour by train from London but Crystal Palace is in South London, almost directly on the other side of the metro area from Cambridge. We would have been looking at at least another 40 minutes or so on the tube from Kings Cross Station. It would have blown the whole day. If you do go don't limit yourself to the EPL. There are a LOT of lower level clubs in London and close by. Also don't forget about the Cups. We went to a League Cup game at a League One team the last time we were over.

[Tbonewannabe]

I don't know about the atmosphere at a better/bigger game, but the game itself is much better than MLS in the upper English divisions. After watching the League Two game I'd say it wasn't much, if any, below MLS. Prices for the EPL are all over the place. There were two games we could have made in London. One was Liverpool-Chelski. On the resale market there were seats in the Chelsea sections for about 250 pounds. I obviously would have had to have away tickets, no way I could have kept quiet at that one. Those were 350. Throw in train and tube tickets and it would have been close to 425 pounds each for the day, not counting food/drink. For the two of us who would have gone it would have been at least a 1000 pound ($1250) day. That was just too much with everything else we were spending on the trip. We also could have gone to Wolves at Crystal Palace. Those tickets were around 85-125 pounds. We seriously considered this. Palace is one of my other teams. The reason we settled on Cambridge was it was about a 30 minute walk to the stadium from the hotel, and the price. We still had most of the day to do other things. Going to Crystal Palace would have blown the whole day. Cambridge is about an hour by train from London but Crystal Palace is in South London, almost directly on the other side of the metro area from Cambridge. We would have been looking at at least another 40 minutes or so on the tube from Kings Cross Station. It would have blown the whole day. If you do go don't limit yourself to the EPL. There are a LOT of lower level clubs in London and close by. Also don't forget about the Cups. We went to a League Cup game at a League One team the last time we were over.

We have never been to London so I hope that I can schedule something we were planning on doing that might be close to any stadium. I am not a real fan of any Premier League team. I kind of follow Chelsea because one of my friends lived over there for a while and was close to the stadium. He became a fan just because he could walk there and he is the only other person I know that even watches it. I rarely watch an entire game unless it isn't conflicting with something else on Saturday morning but watch highlights most of the time.

[Liverpooldawg]

Anywhere in London is accessible by tube.

[Liverpooldawg]

Well, that was ugly. It was also a League winning type performance. You HAVE to win these "find a way" type games to win the league. We found a way. Hats off to the Blades, they played very well. One mistake by one guy cost them the point. Sheffield United 0 Liverpool 1

[Liverpooldawg]

Maybe I'm not a true fan of MSU. I'm second generation, my son is third. All alums. I have, however seen MSU win quite a bit in football, baseball, and both women's and men's basketball, at times. I BLEED MAROON. I've seen my old HS win everything they can win in at least four sports, multiple times in each. I BLEED MROON THERE TOO.
I've seen Liverpool win every trophy that matters since I've been a fan (1994-5 or so)………….except........the one that REALLY matters. TODAY WAS FREAKING HUGE. My blood is RED there. To win the best and most competitive league in the world top to bottom, you have to win games like we did today. YNWA!

[Liverpooldawg]

That challenge on Salah was criminal. How that wasn't a red I'll never know. I hope he isn't hurt bad.

[Liverpooldawg]

MONUMENTAL WIN! Leicester City are a bunch of thugs. I never thought I'd see a Brendan Rogers team act like that.

[TheRef]

MONUMENTAL WIN! Leicester City are a bunch of thugs. I never thought I'd see a Brendan Rogers team act like that.

To be fair, it was chippy both ways. And your fans were trash with Choudhury. No excuse for the racist comments.

[Liverpooldawg]

To be fair, it was chippy both ways. And your fans were trash with Choudhury. No excuse for the racist comments.

What he did to Salah was assault. No excuse for trying to injure a player, which he DID. That was not a football play.

[Liverpooldawg]

Salah isn't playing today and will also miss at least the next game due to what that piece of scum from Leicester intentionally did to him. That guy should be banned from football.

[Liverpooldawg]

Big win for Liverpool today...,,off the pitch......in court. We are about to become a Nike team. Money makes the world go around.

[Liverpooldawg]

Liverpool 2 Tottenham 1. It was another of those championship winning type one goal wins.

[Liverpooldawg]

They did it again! Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 2. Liverpool's goals came in the 87th and 94th minutes. Villa's was in the 21st.

[Liverpooldawg]

Huge game in the title race Sunday. Liverpool vs City round one.

[Liverpooldawg]

Liverpool 3. Manchester City 1. Liverpool are 8 points clear at the top ahead of Leicester City. Manchester City are 9 points back and in 4th place. I like where we are but there is a long way to go. We had an 8 point lead at one point last season too.

[Liverpooldawg]

Pochettino out at Spurs

[Liverpooldawg]

Park the bus, Mourinho in. I hate to see it. His teams do not play the beautiful game.

[Liverpooldawg]

Oh heck yeah! Klopp signed an extension to 2024.

[Liverpooldawg]

10 points clear! I'm trying very hard not to get excited. There is still a very long way to go. We want THE title. It's been way too long. Screw the fluff, like the Champion's League. We have won that SIX times though!

[Liverpooldawg]

World Champions! It's not often a Liverpool team can do something no other Liverpool team has!

[Liverpooldawg]

13 points clear on Boxing Day! I'm in dreamland!

[Liverpooldawg]

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0. 16 points clear with a game in hand!

[Liverpooldawg]

We're gonna win the League! We're gonna win the League! I'm not afraid to say it any more!

[Liverpooldawg]

After playing the game in hand, we are 19 points clear. WOW.

[Liverpooldawg]

The lead is 22 points today. City have a game in hand tomorrow, but that is the biggest lead in the history of the English top flight at the end of a day. WE ARE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE!

[Liverpooldawg]

The lead is 22 points today. City have a game in hand tomorrow, but that is the biggest lead in the history of the English top flight at the end of a day. WE ARE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE!

City lost...…..22 points clear. WOW.

[Liverpooldawg]

That one had been coming. We still need 12 points entering March.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8229753/amp/Newcastles-300m-Saudi-takeover-knock-Manchester-City-wealthiest-owners-spot.html

Step aside City. We've got a richer sugar daddy now.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

I'm sure the old money clubs will fight tooth and nail to stop another club from encroaching on their exclusive privilege of being able to spend enough money to compete for trophies.

I mean "ensure Financial Fair Play is properly enforced."

[Liverpooldawg]

CHAMPIONS!

[Liverpooldawg]

All that cheating money and City STILL can't get to the CL Final, much less win it. LOL! I'll be glad when the gozillionaire owner tires of his toy and they can be relegated again.

[Liverpooldawg]

I'm sure the old money clubs will fight tooth and nail to stop another club from encroaching on their exclusive privilege of being able to spend enough money to compete for trophies.

I mean "ensure Financial Fair Play is properly enforced."

All FFP is supposed to do is make sure clubs are paying their own way. We saw with CIty that it won't be enforced. I wonder what that cost them in bribes?