row_33 Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 Brave effort by Liverpool, but they were outmatched by that lineup Good takedown by secruity EPL is a good training ground for the later years of world greats Oblak next year in Liverpool net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 Egypt’s World Cup chances take a turn for the worse after today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaoulDuke79 Posted May 27, 2018 Share Posted May 27, 2018 Looks like there's still a possibility that Salah may be available for the world cup. Egyptian FA hopeful Salah will be available for World Cup https://www.thescore.com/worldcup/news/1536710 Also, Sergio Ramos can get bent. Whatever happened to winning with dignity and being humble. https://www.thescore.com/s/5563537 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadingpain Posted May 29, 2018 Share Posted May 29, 2018 Enjoyed the game and Gareth Bale's bicycle kick was as beautiful a goal as you'll ever see. But I haven't seen a goaltending performance THAT bad in a match at this level, ever! Pisses me off that Madrid has now won 3 years in a row. I'm a Juventus fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritBill Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Madrid too strong in the end but Liverpool were on top until Salah went off and should have been in front at half time. Second half was all Madrid and they would have won easily enough without the help of poppadom hands in goal for Liverpool. The difference was in the benches. Liverpool brought on Lalana, Madrid brought on Bale. Gigantic difference in quality. Ronaldo was nowhere near full match fit. I fear for his and Portugal's World Cup chances now where as I was going to have a decent bet on them to win it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 32 minutes ago, BritBill said: Madrid too strong in the end but Liverpool were on top until Salah went off and should have been in front at half time. Second half was all Madrid and they would have won easily enough without the help of poppadom hands in goal for Liverpool. The difference was in the benches. Liverpool brought on Lalana, Madrid brought on Bale. Gigantic difference in quality. Ronaldo was nowhere near full match fit. I fear for his and Portugal's World Cup chances now where as I was going to have a decent bet on them to win it. As a fan of the sport and not cheering for either team I was happy Liverpool chose to come out attacking, but it was a matter of time before the clock struck 12 on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritBill Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 (edited) 21 minutes ago, row_33 said: As a fan of the sport and not cheering for either team I was happy Liverpool chose to come out attacking, but it was a matter of time before the clock struck 12 on them. Liverpool play with a style which was suited to playing against Madrid. High pressing midfield with the intention of gaining possession in the opposition defensive third of the field. Then using the movement of their forwards to create chances. They rely on Salah so much. They didn't have much of a plan B other than hanging in there and taking advantage of a set piece should they get one in an attacking area. Once Salah went off Liverpool defended a lot deeper than they wanted to. Modric and Kroos took control of the game and with it the result was inevitability. Because they defended a lot deeper any attack had to break from deeper as well. Leaving so much space for the superior midfield of Madrid to do what they liked when they regained control of the ball. Marcelo and Nacho could bomb up and down the flanks at will. Edited May 30, 2018 by BritBill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 (edited) I looked at the rosters and almost everyone for Real would have started if transferred to Liverpool, and went into nostalgia fugue of memories of when Real players were on English clubs. (probably every Real player was better, but I'll let fans claim 1 or 2 if they wish....) It was a noble effort by Liverpool, a cohesive effort, but we've seen Liverpool put up far more dominant squads and win big games easily. Emlyn Hughes was the man.... My loyalties are to England but my favourite players of this generation are Marcelo and Modric. Edited May 30, 2018 by row_33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritBill Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Yes, this Liverpool side was nowhere near as talented as the one which was European Champions in 2005. Probably only Salah would get in the 2005 team. Definitely the least talented of all the Liverpool European finals teams. They did well collectively to get there. I could happily watch Modric and Kroos dictate a game of football for days if I had the time. So technically gifted. My little boy is a huge Modric fan. Even keeps his hair long and wears a headband in homage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 21 minutes ago, BritBill said: Yes, this Liverpool side was nowhere near as talented as the one which was European Champions in 2005. Probably only Salah would get in the 2005 team. Definitely the least talented of all the Liverpool European finals teams. They did well collectively to get there. I could happily watch Modric and Kroos dictate a game of football for days if I had the time. So technically gifted. My little boy is a huge Modric fan. Even keeps his hair long and wears a headband in homage. Pirlo was the prior god-of-his-era for me. What club do you cheer for? [I have a few Leeds United die-hards who refuse to budge even in this sad times.] My neighbourhood is filled with kids wearing the read and white checkerboard jerseys, never Modric's name on the back though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritBill Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Just now, row_33 said: Pirlo was the prior god-of-his-era for me. What club do you cheer for? [I have a few Leeds United die-hards who refuse to budge even in this sad times.] My neighbourhood is filled with kids wearing the read and white checkerboard jerseys, never Modric's name on the back though... Yeah, Pirlo could've smoked a cigar while dictating a game. I support a small club which has fallen on extremely hard times recently - York City. As a rule you support your local team over here and unfortunately, my local team have been garbage for the vast majority of the 34 years I've followed them. We're only 20 miles from Leeds so there's a lot of their support around these parts. Their demise would be funny if our club had any sort of success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 13 minutes ago, BritBill said: Yeah, Pirlo could've smoked a cigar while dictating a game. I support a small club which has fallen on extremely hard times recently - York City. As a rule you support your local team over here and unfortunately, my local team have been garbage for the vast majority of the 34 years I've followed them. We're only 20 miles from Leeds so there's a lot of their support around these parts. Their demise would be funny if our club had any sort of success. During his last Euro Championship appearance the people watching the Italy game couldn't understand why I was fussing over Pirlo's mastery out there, then the halftime panel spent three minutes worshiping him, which I appreciated. I would enjoy having a local team to cheer for that hasn't hit fatcat status, get decent seats for an affordable price. It doesn't work that way over here in Canada though. Is it worse to support Leeds with memories of great success never returning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritBill Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 16 hours ago, row_33 said: During his last Euro Championship appearance the people watching the Italy game couldn't understand why I was fussing over Pirlo's mastery out there, then the halftime panel spent three minutes worshiping him, which I appreciated. I would enjoy having a local team to cheer for that hasn't hit fatcat status, get decent seats for an affordable price. It doesn't work that way over here in Canada though. Is it worse to support Leeds with memories of great success never returning? Sounds like we have a similar taste for cultured midfielders. I've always been a huge fan of Xabi Alonso. He was close to being the best central midfielder in the world a few years ago. Supporting a local team does have it's advantages. Like you say, the entrance fee is affordable. My son and I get to the match for under £20. But you do tend to get what you pay for. My team had suffered back to back relegations so are now in regional football. The standard is extremely poor. On the plus side, all the away games tend to be under 100 miles away. Leeds have probably spent more time in The Championship in the last 25 years than they have the Premier League. They spent a fair bit of time there in the 80's as well. Their fans are in general, neanderthals. I've no sympathy for the majority of them. What teams do you follow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 (edited) Maradona and GOO-LEET and Klinsmann transferred to Italy during my high school years, which was the greatest sports thing I will ever have enjoyed. The combination of the Italian passion for the game and the best of the world taking their turn in Serie A can never be captured again. Now Italy is a borefest in club play, and maybe even the national team isn't all that as a result of not striving for excellence? Man U lost the first FA Cup final i watched intently (1976), so I was by tradition obligated to cheer for them, just back from relegation as well. It got embarrassing during the Alex years cheering when you knew it was a foregone conclusion. I get almost every game from Eng/Ital/Spn/Ger and now tape about 8 or so games a week from club play in Europe and sift through the big gun games, not really cheering but hoping for a good game. Champions League puts up a handful of top-level watchable games each year, most are blowouts so it's not really that huge on my viewing calendar. I grew up in Southern Ontario surrounded by UK expats and pockets of families from middle Europe, so I got the bug for watching soccer more than the average Canadian. Toronto's pro team is doing well but I can't get into it, but it's good to see something local catch fire for soccer. Edited May 31, 2018 by row_33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritBill Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 One of my first soccer memories is of Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard and all destroying England at Euro 1988. My team actually beat Man Utd 3-0 at Old Trafford in the League Cup in the early 90's. That was the first leg. The second leg was Cantona's first away game since he returned from his ban after kung-fu kicking the Palace fan. If I watch a game of soccer on TV I tend to watch La Liga or the English Championship. We get the MLS games on Sky but by late on Saturday evening I'm usually all soccer'd out and ready for a movie and family time. Especially if I want to watch NFL on a Sunday night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 5 hours ago, BritBill said: One of my first soccer memories is of Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard and all destroying England at Euro 1988. My team actually beat Man Utd 3-0 at Old Trafford in the League Cup in the early 90's. That was the first leg. The second leg was Cantona's first away game since he returned from his ban after kung-fu kicking the Palace fan. If I watch a game of soccer on TV I tend to watch La Liga or the English Championship. We get the MLS games on Sky but by late on Saturday evening I'm usually all soccer'd out and ready for a movie and family time. Especially if I want to watch NFL on a Sunday night! I go back to the 1974 World Cup, a relative by marriage was Dutch and and a great proclaimer of that great Total Football team. Unfortunately they ended up losing to the host nation for 74 and 78, probably the greatest sides to not win it all. My Serie A fill for the import years was from RAI, so I picked up all the soccer phrases and pronunciations of names in Italian, often well off the mark for native names. Inter capitalized best on the the Germans, Rummenigge didn't pan out due to injury, but Brehme and Klinsmann and Matthaus sure did. Voller played well for Roma for awhile. Juve grabbed Hassler and Kohler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritBill Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 USA, Canada & Mexico to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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