[Malankazooie]

Damn, my brother - a huge Arsenal fan - has to be absolutely gutted right now. I want to send him a text, but am afraid to.

I'll definitely send him a text when Tottenham takes the top trophy this Saturday.

[Macros]

Shite game
Great result

Delighted Origi got a goal


And suck on this Malazakazooie

[Malankazooie]

You guys deserved it. I like Klop and the players on Liverpool. Not a fan of the supporters though. Liverpool had been getting dicked on the wrong side of luck the past few goes at it, so happy for you guys.

Spurs played above their pay grade, so they should hold their heads up. Doubt they get anywhere near that far next year, we'll see. I'll be interested to see what moves are made before next season. Pochettino leaving?

As far as the game - hand ball, penalty goal was trash, but I can agree with the call, I guess. Spurs did press a lot, so weren't outclassed. Crap match all in all though. I guess that might be a symptom of the familiarity these teams have with each other (both playing in the EPL). I think it would have been more exciting if it were teams from different euro pro leagues.

[Macros]

Allison earned his transfer fee

[Gorefest]

Wasn't a penalty though. That decision killed the match.

[Macros]

Except it was a penalty, his arm moved towards the ball from its flapping position (where no defender in the box should have his arm). It's not about hitting the chest first, it's about the clear benefit gained from it bouncing down off his arm.

Outside of that Poch shouldn't have started Kane, Moura deserved to start and we've seen all season Spurs are more of a threat without kane than with, the results bare that theory out

[Malankazooie]

Ok, lets turn discussion to Women's World Cup; kicking off this Thursday.

Which country will have the privilege to lose to 'Murica! for the cup?

[Tavvar]

So far it looks like France will certainly give the US a run for their money (and in the Quarters too ). I want to see if the US's defense can hold up...

[Tsundoku]

God-DAMN the Matildas played like crap against Italy the other day.
Defence was diabolical, back line too far forward, kept on getting turned around too easily and making too many rookie turnovers.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 11 June 2019 - 11:07 AM

[Malankazooie]

Tavvar, on 11 June 2019 - 05:23 AM, said:

So far it looks like France will certainly give the US a run for their money (and in the Quarters too ). I want to see if the US's defense can hold up...

Agree.

Other then Sweden in the group, our mettle won't really be tested until knock out begins. Got Thailand tonight.

[Malankazooie]

After that, kinda hoping we get beat now. Humiliating another country (13-0) is uncalled for. Clear the bench, or work on disciplined ball possession, but to continue pressure to score is pointless at some point.

Sorta hoping we lose and don't win the Cup now. A slice of humble pie is in strong order.

[Tsundoku]

Malankazooie, on 11 June 2019 - 08:58 PM, said:

After that, kinda hoping we get beat now. Humiliating another country (13-0) is uncalled for. Clear the bench, or work on disciplined ball possession, but to continue pressure to score is pointless at some point.

Sorta hoping we lose and don't win the Cup now. A slice of humble pie is in strong order.

Are ... are you sure you're American?

[Mentalist]

Wow, Sheva really whipped the team into shape for Euro qualifiers. I'm impressed.

We had a rough start (goalless draw away against Portugal was respectable; beating Luxembourg away through an own goal was not). But then we hosted Serbia who managed to get a 1:1 draw against Portugal away, and we absolutely trounced them, 5:0!

Our group is super weird now. We got 10, Luxembourg (whom we subsequently beat at home 1:0) is STILL second (!!!) with 4 points. Serbs picked up 3 points picking on Lithuania (who so far only has the 2 losses- 1 against Luxembourg and one to the Serbs), so they've also got 4 points, but in 3rd due to terrible goal difference. Lithuania and Portugal got 2 games in hand with 0 and 2 points respectively. If Portugal drops any more points, and if we can manage to not lose, we've got a great shot at 1st spot.

[Tsundoku]

Matildas came back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 against Brasil and everyone's celebrating but I think it's too little too late.
Instead if topping the group like they should have, they'll be in a 3 way battle and may not even make the round of 16 if other results don't go their way.
That first up loss to Italy really hurt their chances. 3 points, 4-4 after 2 matches has them third in the group, and Italy still hasn't played Jamaica - which you'd think they have a fair chance of winning.

[Malankazooie]

Ok, that was better sportsmanship on our part. Beat Chile 3 - 0. Now some are saying we thumped Thailand so hard to make a statement about unequal pay compared to what the Men's National Team gets. There has to be a better way to make a statement about pay inequality then humiliating another team.

Anyway, excellent showing by our gals. Our corner set pieces are unmatched in quality, execution and results. Damn though, that goalkeeper for Chile was amazing. The score could have been 7-0 if not for her amazing saves. We still have a clean sheet. Got Sweden this Thursday, I wonder if we can keep the ball out of our net? Winner will exit the group the top seed.

[Gorefest]

I watched a few games but dear gods the level of football on display is generally poor. I applaud the increased attention for the women's game in a traditionally very male orientated sport (well, mostly, apart from in the USA I believe). But development wise they really lag 100 years behind the men. Compared to other sports like tennis, hockey, cycling or athletics, they really have a very long way to go. I must confess I haven't seen the USA in action yet, they may be reaching a level that is passable to the neutral viewer, but the few matches I've seen mainly displayed a disturbing lack of tactical insight, skill, and ball control. And that includes my own national team of the Netherlands who are the reigning European champions and my adopted nation of England. Very disappointing. At the very least a professional or semi-professional player should be able to deliver a straight pass over 5 meters to a fellow player and have a basic understanding of field positioning.

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 17 June 2019 - 01:03 PM

[Tsundoku]

Well, thanks to a 4 goal effort by Sam Kerr against Jamaica we squeaked through into the round of 16.

Against Norway.

A year ago I would have said we had a good shot. But now after sacking the coach for nebulous reasons 5 months out from the Cup and with our porous defence, I'm not so sure.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 19 June 2019 - 10:27 AM

[Tavvar]

Scotland-Argentina was absolutely nuts. Scotland up 3-0 at around 75 minutes, ended up drawing 3-3. Most entertaining game of the tournament so far. And another example of VAR showing all of its flaws in the tournament, really harsh on the Scottish goalie getting a PK saved wiped out for straying off the line early, PKs are already tough enough.

Really looking forward to seeing how the US does against Sweden tomorrow, we haven't played anyone yet, and Sweden has beaten us a few times recently. All the games should be entertaining for their own reasons tomorrow!

[Malankazooie]

Yep, VAR is not looking good.

Keep an eye on France. Host country and Nigeria totally got jobbed by them and VAR. They very well could cheat their way to winning it all.

[Malankazooie]

Kinda conflicted about this one. I've got roots that go back to Sweden, so won't be that heart broken if Sweden wins. USA is my ride or die for sure, but Sweden is my backup bae and if my ride or die falters, then I want Sweden to take it all.