Football: the winter break

[Consigliere]

2 minutes ago, Ser Glendon Fireball said:

Our top4 race appears more doable than ever.

Hopefully we can keep our good run going but we also could really use Spurs getting dragged into it. With all of their injuries and a thin squad, hopefully they start dropping more points. Chelsea signing Higuain should make a difference for them even if he doesn't produce his best. At the very least, with a CF that Sarri trusts, Hazard will be back to his natural position and he's the key man by far. Arsenal are in some trouble with injuries to Sokratis and Koscielny especially given that their defence is already a big problem - possibly even worse than ours. 

[Mexal]

2 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Hopefully we can keep our good run going but we also could really use Spurs getting dragged into it. With all of their injuries and a thin squad, hopefully they start dropping more points. Chelsea signing Higuain should make a difference for them even if he doesn't produce his best. At the very least, with a CF that Sarri trusts, Hazard will be back to his natural position and he's the key man by far. Arsenal are in some trouble with injuries to Sokratis and Koscielny especially given that their defence is already a big problem - possibly even worse than ours. 

The injuries kill the squad, especially when you throw Bellerin in there. Oh well. Not an enjoyable team to watch or follow this season.

[polishgenius]

It's a tonic for the soul to see Lingard owning the Emirates again.

[Iskaral Pust]

I love how Utd's resurgence keeps piling on just how inept and toxic is Mourinho.  But I think they've made the point well enough for now and should return to flattering to deceive.  It was more fun when they were competing with Everton, Watford and Bournemouth.

[Iskaral Pust]

1 hour ago, Mexal said:

The injuries kill the squad, especially when you throw Bellerin in there. Oh well. Not an enjoyable team to watch or follow this season.

And Arsenal visit City on Feb 3rd.  I was hoping they'd be ready to give City a challenging game, but now it might be a walk-over.

[Consigliere]

Good day in the FA Cup with a couple of upsets - Millwall beating Everton 3-2 and Wimbledon, rock bottom of League One, pulled off the biggest upset by beating West Ham 4-2. Another struggling side from League One, Shrewsbury Town, came agonisingly close to toppling Wolves by going two goals up only to concede a 93rd minute equaliser. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Since Liverpool don’t have a cup game, we get a valuable window to check on the progrss of our loanees.  

Harry Wilson at Derby (he of the dramatic knuckleball goals), Ryan Kent at Rangers and Marko Grujic at Hertha Berlin are all doing very well.  I’d like to see Wilson and Grujic in the squad as back-ups next season.  Ejaria was doing well at Rangers too but refused to stay at that club any longer (sounds like he was personally unhappy there).  Elsewhere is more hit and miss.  Herbie Kane is doing well at Doncaster, but needs to move up the divisions in his next loan.  Woodburn could not get any game time at Derby.  Ojo seems badly adrift.  And there are miscellaneous others who don’t appear to have a future at the club. 

And talking of youngsters reaching the first team, both Alexander-Arnold and Gomez are still injured and projected to miss a few more games.  The right side of our defense will be vulnerable for a while longer. 

[BigFatCoward]

Asking the public to pay for the search for someone who was probably on at least 50 grand a week seems a bit trashy of the family. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

First. He had only just signed that contract, and I doubt he earnt that much in France (he wasn't playing for PSG).

Second No not really, I can see how the family wants to know what happened to him, regardless of his fame and wealth. And he was probably also supporting his family back home.

[Philokles]

Very strange decision from Andre Marriner in Chelsea vs Sheffield Wednesday. He rightly overturns a penalty for Wednesday on VAR as Ampadu won the ball, but rather than giving a corner he lets Caballero have it in an uncontested drop ball. If he blew before the ball left the field then ensure it is returned to the side who had possession, and if he thinks the Wednesday player dived, book him and give Chelsea a freekick. 

[Teng Ai Hui]

I'm reading about the USMNT victory over Pamana.  The game was played at a stadium in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.  The stadium's capacity is over 63,000.  The attendance was 9,040.  That is super embarrassing. 

I really want to start a rant about how our women's team is so much better and yet receives far less pay, but I'd just give myself an aneurysm.

[Heartofice]

2 minutes ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

I'm reading about the USMNT victory over Pamana.  The game was played at a stadium in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.  The stadium's capacity is over 63,000.  The attendance was 9,040.  That is super embarrassing. 

I really want to start a rant about how our women's team is so much better and yet receives far less pay, but I'd just give myself an aneurysm.

Why is it so low? I've heard that 'Soccer' is viewed very much as a 'kids game' in the US, is that still true?

[Teng Ai Hui]

28 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Why is it so low? I've heard that 'Soccer' is viewed very much as a 'kids game' in the US, is that still true?

Wow, I honestly don't know for sure, but my gut feeling is misogyny and the US Soccer Federation thinking that they can get away with keeping that money for themselves. 

I'm not sure about the "kids game" part, but soccer will never be more popular in USA than basketball, baseball, and NFL football.

[Heartofice]

41 minutes ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

Wow, I honestly don't know for sure, but my gut feeling is misogyny and the US Soccer Federation thinking that they can get away with keeping that money for themselves. 

I'm not sure about the "kids game" part, but soccer will never be more popular in USA than basketball, baseball, and NFL football.

It will always struggle to even be the 5th sport in the US I think. Maybe if the mens team started winning a bit more it would get some traction.

Are the women's team as good as the mens team there? I know there is a huge push over here in the UK to popularise the womens game, but there is still a large gulf in quality at the top of those games.

[Teng Ai Hui]

12 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

It will always struggle to even be the 5th sport in the US I think. Maybe if the mens team started winning a bit more it would get some traction.

Are the women's team as good as the mens team there? I know there is a huge push over here in the UK to popularise the womens game, but there is still a large gulf in quality at the top of those games.

The US women have won the WC 3 times and Olympic gold 4 times.  They have always been either first or second in the FIFA rankings.  The US men's team is a piece of dog shit compared to that.

[Heartofice]

7 minutes ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

The US women have won the WC 3 times and Olympic gold 4 times.  They have always been either first or second in the FIFA rankings.  The US men's team is a piece of dog shit compared to that.

Yes, I guess compared to the other womens teams the US one is rather good. 

[Teng Ai Hui]

15 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Yes, I guess compared to the other womens teams the US one is rather good. 

You still seem unconvinced.  Instead of looking at trophies, let's look at revenue.  During the 2016 fiscal year, the USSF earned 5.188 million USD off the backs of the women's team and lost almost 1 million USD (964,000 USD) because of the men's team.  Also, back in 2016*, when the female player sued for equal pay, the USSF submitted documents predicting that in 2017 it would earn 17 million USD off the backs of the women's team while earning only 9 million USD from the men's team.

* Sorry that my stats are out of date.  I currently don't have the time, patience, or google-fu skills to find anything more recent.

Also, in general and without research and links, I would like to suggest that women pro footballers are tougher than men pro footballers.  Remember Neymar rolling around like a gunshot victim versus Mexico in the last WC.  That's a top 3 player in the world.  He'll win an Oscar before he wins a Ballon d'Or.  How many times has C. Ronaldo ran after an official whining like a spoiled 8-year-old?  Ever read about / seen video of women footballers acting like that?  Also, the women played every game of the 2015 WC on artificial turf.  Ever seen pictures of someone's legs after playing on artificial turf?

Anyway, sorry-not-sorry for that 2nd paragraph rant.  I'm guessing a lot of the usual participants in this thread don't want to watch women's football, and that's fine.  It's just a difference of opinion.  But, it's just unsupportable to claim that the US women aren't better than the US men at football. 

[lmanion]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4389760/amp/USA-women-s-team-suffer-5-2-loss-FC-Dallas-U-15-boys.html

This probably is part of the reason they dont get paid like the men and why most people prefer to watch the men. Its a different level of skill and speed. I see your point about the diving its a blight on the mens game and needs something done about it. Artificial turf might be tough to fall on but you are always sure of the bounce and grip level as opposed to real grass.

[Teng Ai Hui]

@lmanion Those are some fair points about men's football being better than women's.  I wish I could find some further details regarding that game you cited.  (I can't even find a list of the USWNT's starters.)  Regardless, it's definitely a red mark against what I was trying to say.  The only rebuttal I can provide is this article's caveat:

Quote

Of course, this match against the academy team was very informal and should not be a major cause for alarm. The U.S. surely wasn’t going all out, with the main goal being to get some minutes on the pitch, build chemistry when it comes to moving the ball around, improve defensive shape and get ready for Russia.

However, for me, that scoreline can't justify unequal pay.  The women's team provides more honors and more revenue. 

[Heartofice]

Yes it does seem that the women’s sport is more popular over there. I know the Women’s World Cup is growing in popularity too. 

Having watched a bit of the women’s game I have to say that other than maybe the Dutch side ( who are rather good) , I am yet to be impressed by the quality. Sadly the england side are miles behind the men in terms of skill pace and power, the games are slower , less exciting and full of mistakes you’d laugh at if men made them. Just watching the two games you can see a huge gulf in class. There is still a long way to go before they catch up, and honestly I don’t think it will ever happen.

That’s not to say there isn’t room for the women’s game, it’s clearly popular and if there is demand to watch it then of course the players should be paid accordingly.