Soccer

[msslave]

Welcome back Rick... even if it's about soccer, something I know nothing about.

[watcher1]

He is from the Chicago area and I think he is only 18 years old.  He has the Fire still in the playoff picture and will report to Chelsea after the MLS season is over.

Love me some Rick! So good to see you bud! We miss you. I hope everything’s going OK.

Well I heard that some of the lovely ladies of KB have been posting some very good stuff and that heals a body up pretty quickly. 😎

But, thank you and yes, things are going okay.  Just not healing as fast as I once did.

Thank you, Bob. I am taking it slow. Don't want to tax my heart too much by going straight to the good stuff...😇

[watcher1]

This can also be posted in What Did I Learn Today thread.

Professional women's soccer in the United States has 100 years of history this year, sparked by a British ban on the sport.  The English Football Association declared soccer "utterly unladylike " in 1921 so in 1922, one of the United Kingdom's best women's teams came to play in America  - against men.  Although the athletes finished their nine-game series in the States with three wins, three loses, and three draws, they left with something of a trophy: a soccer ball signed by President Warren G. Harding.

[MissBarbara]

This can also be posted in What Did I Learn Today thread.

Professional women's soccer in the United States has 100 years of history this year, sparked by a British ban on the sport.  The English Football Association declared soccer "utterly unladylike " in 1921 so in 1922, one of the United Kingdom's best women's teams came to play in America  - against men.  Although the athletes finished their nine-game series in the States with three wins, three loses, and three draws, they left with something of a trophy: a soccer ball signed by President Warren G. Harding.

That's a fascinating story, and thanks for posting it.

Besides, any KB post that mentions President Harding always gets a woo from me.

It's interesting how, in the first game of the 2019 Women's World Cup, the U.S. team massacred Thailand 13-0. After, there were many criticisms, and many of them referred to the USWNT's victory as "unladylike."

Sexism and sexist double standards are still alive and well.

[Hilda]

It's interesting how, in the first game of the 2019 Women's World Cup, the U.S. team massacred Thailand 13-0. After, there were many criticisms, and many of them referred to the

In cricket, a team that's well ahead can voluntarily 'declare' its innings closed. I always thought this was a gracious thing to do — to give the other side a sporting chance. I was wrong. A few minutes on the web turned up far too much information for my cricket-challenged brain, but the bottom line is, I think, that a declaration is a fiendish way of putting the other team at a disadvantage. I think I prefer my interpretation.

Applied to a game like soccer, maybe a sporting team could pull one or two of its players off the field to give the losing side a ghost of a chance.

[MissBarbara]

Applied to a game like soccer, maybe a sporting team could pull one or two of its players off the field to give the losing side a ghost of a chance.

In general, yes. And the USWNT pulled off three of their best players in the second half.

But you have to evaluate what happened in context.

Going into the 2019 World Cup, the USWNT were the defending champions, and they had an enormous target on their backs. There was a lot of criticism that this team was weaker than the one that won in 2015, they were "too old" and had grown complacent, and there were many assertions that they would get knocked out before the final rounds.

So, this first match of the tournament was a statement. They were saying we're here, we're still the best, and we're going to win.

Someone at the time made the comparison with the 1992 U.S. men's basketball Olympic team, aka the Dream Team. In their first match, they beat Angola by 68 points, and their average margin of victory was 44 points. Their "closest" game was when they beat Croatia in the gold medal match by "only" 32 points.

There was no talk of their being "ungentlemanly" and no condemnations for their 68-point victory in the opening game.

Double standards.

[staci]

boils down to skill, training and coaching. And cohesiveness. Ditching Hope Solo solved some of their problems

[Clitical Thinking]

Uhm...

Brentford shots - 13
Man Utd shots - 15

Brentford possession - 33%
Man Utd possession - 66%

Brentford passes - 255
Man Utd passes - 521

Brentford pass accuracy - 66%
Man Utd pass accuracy  - 84%

BUT...

Brentford goals - 4
Man Utd goals - 0

LMFAO

I didn't see the match, and at first I thought someone goofed and got the goal count reversed when I saw the rest of the stats

[ObiDongKenobi]

Uhm...

Brentford shots - 13
Man Utd shots - 15

Brentford possession - 33%
Man Utd possession - 66%

Brentford passes - 255
Man Utd passes - 521

Brentford pass accuracy - 66%
Man Utd pass accuracy  - 84%

BUT...

Brentford goals - 4
Man Utd goals - 0

LMFAO

I didn't see the match, and at first I thought someone goofed and got the goal count reversed when I saw the rest of the stats

Shit, I meant to watch that but got sidetracked by problems with my replacement phone. The very definition of counter attacking, going by your stats CT.

ROFLMAO

[MissBarbara]

Uhm...

Brentford shots - 13
Man Utd shots - 15

Brentford possession - 33%
Man Utd possession - 66%

Brentford passes - 255
Man Utd passes - 521

Brentford pass accuracy - 66%
Man Utd pass accuracy  - 84%

BUT...

Brentford goals - 4
Man Utd goals - 0

LMFAO

I didn't see the match, and at first I thought someone goofed and got the goal count reversed when I saw the rest of the stats

I watched that match this morning, and I wasn't going to say anything, out of respect for Watcher.

But since you opened the door, one state not included here is that Man U took 15 shots, but only 4 shots were on target. And among those 4 shots on target, all were easy saves.

Meanwhile, Man U sits in 20th place on the Premier League table...

P.S. I suppose I should note that I watched that match hoping to see Man U lose. I was not disappointed.

[watcher1]

I didn't see the match either and was mildly  surprised at their losing today.  Mildly surprised because they didn't show me much at the end of last season and looks like it has continued into the beginning of this season. Looks like ManCity will be the team to beat again this year.

[MintJulie]

I haven't commented in this topic  in a long long long time, but I always read the comments.

Today while reading Barb's comment, I thought "I have a new bucket list item". And that is ... hanging with Barb watching a soccer game, while having pizza and tipping ice cold 12 oz beers.

Sorry, not trying to sidetrack, but dang I had a shiver surge through thinking me about that.

[MissBarbara]

Sorry, not trying to sidetrack, but dang I had a shiver surge through thinking me about that.

Me, too.

[Clitical Thinking]

Feel free to sidetrack 😏

😂

Saw the highlights and why De Gea wanted to apologize. First goal was a slip up, second a really poor pass from him.

But all the credit to Brentford on the fourth one, that was the very definition of a good counterattack.

[watcher1]

Feel free to sidetrack 😏

😂

Saw the highlights and why De Gea wanted to apologize. First goal was a slip up, second a really poor pass from him.

But all the credit to Brentford on the fourth one, that was the very definition of a good counterattack.

I saw the low lights last night.  But the thought of Jules and Barb, on the couch together, watching a match and sharing pizza and beer -  gives me a tingle too.  Good luck in the Spurs match this morning, Barb. 

[Clitical Thinking]

I was going to add, De Gea is interesting in that he can put in some world class performances, and he's played more often than even the legendary Schmeichel (only Alex Stepney has more appearances as a GK) but once in a while he'll do his best Massimo Taibi impression 😂

[Clitical Thinking]

I was going to add, De Gea is interesting in that he can put in some world class performances, and he's played more often than even the legendary Schmeichel (only Alex Stepney has more appearances as a GK) but once in a while he'll do his best Massimo Taibi impression 😂

I consider myself a Newcastle fan, and yet I've just realized I know much more about both the history and current state of Man Utd than of my own club 

A huge part of it is just that it's been so much easier to keep up with Man Utd than with Newcastle on television and in the news.

For example, the first Champions League match I ever watched was Newcastle vs Barcelona, 25 years ago this September, but literally the only time Newcastle has been in the Champions League group stages since then was in 2002/2003, and they haven't been in European competitions at all in about a decade. ...and there's more Premier League football on TV these days than ever before, but for a long, long time there were only one or two matches to watch a week, and they often featured Man Utd in the 90s and early 00s (and then of course Arsenal)

Even now, when Newcastle seem to be in a better position than in a while, Man Utd gets more attention in the media than almost any other club, now the continuing decline rather than the glory of years past being the big news.

Anyway, here's Massimo Taibi's career at Man Utd perfectly summed up. Almost literally, since he lasted only four matches.

I've always wondered if he would've improved much, had he gotten a chance to stay? Though I once read that he supposedly said it was his decision to leave because of a serious family issue back in Italy, and that the other players at the club had asked him to stay.

[watcher1]

Did you catch the Tottenham- Chelsea match?  Conte red carded after the match for shoving the Chelsea manager.  Nice header by Kane in stoppage time to even up the score but I thought the Spur player pulling a Chelsea player's hair in the 6 yard box should have been called.

[MissBarbara]

Did you catch the Tottenham- Chelsea match?  Conte red carded after the match for shoving the Chelsea manager.  Nice header by Kane in stoppage time to even up the score but I thought the Spur player pulling a Chelsea player's hair in the 6 yard box should have been called.

I wasn't able to watch it, but both Conte and Tuchel received red cards (after previously receiving a caution). I watched several replays, and it's hard for me to imagine how Romero's hair-pulling wasn't a foul.

[watcher1]

Did you catch the Tottenham- Chelsea match?  Conte red carded after the match for shoving the Chelsea manager.  Nice header by Kane in stoppage time to even up the score but I thought the Spur player pulling a Chelsea player's hair in the 6 yard box should have been called.

I wasn't able to watch it, but both Conte and Tuchel received red cards (after previously receiving a caution). I watched several replays, and it's hard for me to imagine how Romero's hair-pulling wasn't a foul.

It was two different halfs, MissB. The first half, Chelsea kept the Spurs mostly playing defense and in the second half, the Spurs were on the attack. Not calling the pulling of the hair resulted in the corner kick proceeding with all eleven on the pitch instead of maybe just ten if a red card was issued. Kane might not have scored.

I did not know that Chelsea dominates Tottenham on their home turf.