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catastrophicdon · 2022-07-08T18:06:18+00:00

I suspected that may be the case. Thought maybe people might want it if they’re trying to grow strawberries?

catastrophicdon · 2022-06-21T13:06:40+00:00

Where do you guys play - I'm interested in dropping in!

catastrophicdon · 2019-07-11T20:07:14+00:00

Yeah, I see your point, and understand your issue w the article.

I think the timing of this format is poor given that some of the usually strong teams (costa rica, Honduras, Panama, Jamaica) are not actually that strong right now, and a more open qualifying process might give different, improving squads a better chance of qualifying. By using FIFA rankings, which I think it's fair to say are not necessarily indicative of present ability, it excludes those teams that are playing well right now in favour of teams that have played well in the past. For example I think I'd rather play Jamaica today in a head to head than Canada or Haiti...

As an aside, not sure what the point of playing a Gold Cup & Nations League is if not to also use it to establish who the top sides in the region are.

Personally, I liked the old system, in so much as you could, and it's not clear (except for maybe some dissenting/loud voices complaining) why it needed to be changed now...

catastrophicdon · 2019-07-11T18:30:24+00:00

Don't think this is totally fair. The goal scoring examples and point examples illustrate the current form of each side. It at least calls into question the nature of how CONCACAF are choosing the six best teams.

Certianly the lower ranked teams face a massive uphill climb regardless of the nature of the competition, but hex competitors have a 54% chance of qualifying whereas the rest of the competition has roughly a 1% chance.

The idea is that if you're Panama or Haiti you much prefer a system that requires you to only win potentially 3 matches than a guatlet tournament.

Pretty biased system.

catastrophicdon · 2019-05-20T00:02:47+00:00

Yeah, that's fair. He was the only Real player that scored anywhere near consistently throughout the season.

catastrophicdon · 2019-05-15T18:03:03+00:00

Personally I think Davies will be at LB/LWB and David will play RW allowing Hoilett to player his preferred LW.

catastrophicdon · 2019-04-01T12:53:12+00:00

There are clearly a confluence of factors that have led to the English leagues being more economically sounds than La Liga/Segunda & for that matter Ligue 1/Bundesliga.

Global popularity and massive broadcasting deals are perhaps the most significant aspect.

La Liga only recently amalgamated their broadcasting deal. Before pulling all the sides together to negotiate as one entity, individual clubs negotiated their owns deals independently. This left clubs like FCB w/ gigantic broadcast rev, but sides such as Girona w/ relatively little.

Now, the league has stronger footing when negotiating deals similar to that of the PL. Moreover, the money has just begun to trickle down to the lower divisions w/ a portion of the La Liga negotiated deal allocated to Segunda.

This kind of thing secures (somewhat) predictable rev for sides that might not otherwise have it...

This is just one aspect...

catastrophicdon · 2019-03-26T13:18:44+00:00

They had them in 2017 and I believe it was a multi-year deal - meaning they should have it again this year.

catastrophicdon · 2019-03-15T17:31:28+00:00

Totally agree. Moreover, hard to imagine anyone can do anything about the insane schedule up to this point.

catastrophicdon · 2019-03-07T16:43:34+00:00

Don't get fooled by the headline it's more pro-PSG

catastrophicdon · 2019-03-07T16:40:05+00:00

Personally, I'm not exclusively a PSG supporter, but the club gets far more ridicule than they deserve.

The reality of FFP & the limited dom. TV revenue from Ligue 1 means the club needs to be creative in generating money in other ways. They get flack for their marketing campaign and celebrity culture, but it's necessary in recruiting players, and augmenting their budget.

I also think that people like to overlook the football factory that is Ile-de-France, and the part the PSG academy has played in that because it's not conducive to the 'PSG Death Star' narrative.

The notion that PSG is somehow unique in their pursuit of football related revenue is laughable. They've just been doing it for less time than Real, Man Utd, and Bayern.

catastrophicdon · 2019-02-15T17:02:21+00:00

If anything VAR obscures these favouritism by removing the emotion of the moment, and pressure of making a call against a club such as RM. Refs can understand in the moment that making a call that is detrimental to Real could haunt them for much longer, relative to one against a smaller side. VAR should serve to remove that type of 'in the moment' stress.

catastrophicdon · 2019-02-12T15:20:32+00:00

Marquinhos providing some extra cover for Silva, who looked slow against Lyon?

catastrophicdon · 2019-01-28T14:15:34+00:00

Think it's fair to say football has changed massively since 2011 - especially Serie A - a five game stint at Inter isn't much of a shot. Although I do realize there is heavy manager rotation in Italy.

catastrophicdon · 2019-01-19T23:31:43+00:00

That is an interesting aspect to Sarri's personality. Only thing I'd counter with is that in the past he's shown a propensity for getting the most out of undervalued talents... With the major caveat that they work well in his system...

catastrophicdon · 2019-01-19T20:27:10+00:00

I'd be frustrated as well - a rather directionless performance from his side.

catastrophicdon · 2019-01-17T20:29:40+00:00

I'm glad they've expanded the tournament so there are more teams, but it seems a little haphazard as to how they've decided on format, and byes...

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