Football (Soccer) Thread

[The Larch]

So what can MLS do to untangle the web? Well, for starters, it could fully observe Fifa-recognised breaks. Last week, world soccer took a break for a round of international friendly fixtures, while MLS took a half-break of sorts, with six games played over the weekend. Some teams were without some of their best players. There were six players missing through international duty for Saturday evening's game between the New York Red Bulls and Minnesota United. The LA Galaxy struggled for firepower against Vancouver 24 hours after Ola Kamara had netted a hat-trick for Norway. Playing league fixtures during Fifa-mandated international breaks compromises MLS's integrity. It warps results and, ultimately, positions in the table.

Fucking Bullshit eurocentric argument.

Eurocentric? If anything, it'd be ROTW-centric.

[Grey Fox]

You don't like the International breaks either?

[The Larch]

You don't like the International breaks either?

Not a big fan of them, but what can you do about it. Insisting on playing league fixtures without international players is an intrinsic devaluation of the level of play.

[Grey Fox]

I rather, in the MLS case, that teams to simply not let the players go. All these meaningless international friendlies taking away time & health away from the Clubs is bad for the league. Laurent Ciman got called up almost everytime & usually doesn't play. It also extends the season way too much. 35 games + playoffs played over 9 months!

[Josephus]

The problem is, the league runs long enough as it is. From March to the final in December. Taking weeks off for international breaks only extends the season. They'll be playing in January.

But that siad, there are problems with MLS (and I'm a fan).

No international breaks

No relegation/promotion

Too many teams in one big division.

And...

the fucking playoffs. You could be the best team from March to October. And then one loss in october and buh-bye.

[Josephus]

I rather, in the MLS case, that teams to simply not let the players go. All these meaningless international friendlies taking away time & health away from the Clubs is bad for the league. Laurent Ciman got called up almost everytime & usually doesn't play. It also extends the season way too much. 35 games + playoffs played over 9 months!

He's no long with the Impact...he's gone to a good team finally 

[Grey Fox]

The MLS season needs to be way shorter. The playoff need to be done by the end of September.

[Grey Fox]

Sure, 2 years of success & all the sudden the TFC fans grow some balls. Took you long enough!

[Josquius]

International breaks are stupid it's true.
They need doing away with in England too. So it's unacceptable for international players to have 2 games in right proximity but totally fine to then have a Tuesday game between two Saturdays?

[Agelastus]

It's trivially simple to look at a footballing calendar and find England matches with the exact same break between them as your Saturday/Tuesday example (see September and October 2017, for example) and your Tuesday/Saturday example (see March this year.) Could you elaborate on your point, please? Is it the period before the games you are concerned with?

[Josquius]

Why do England games need a weeks break either side of them when there's no issue putting 2 games in a week for club teams under normal circumstances.
Almost the entire champions and europa league for instance takes place alongside domestic competition.

[Agelastus]

Why do England games need a weeks break either side of them when there's no issue putting 2 games in a week for club teams under normal circumstances.
Almost the entire champions and europa league for instance takes place alongside domestic competition.

But they don't have a week's break either side of them - the last friendly was on Tuesday 27th March and there was a full premiership program on the next Saturday, the 31st March.

There were premiership matches on the 1st October 2017 before a qualifier on the 5th October; A qualifier on the 14th November followed by a full premiership program on the 18th.

The "week's break" either side of them is a myth; at most, they seem to get an extra day and even that's arguable.

[Josephus]

so in hiis first game with the L.A. Galaxy, Ibra comes on in the final 20 minutes and scores 2 goals, sealing a win by overcoming a 3-0 deficit against their cross town rivals.

[Josquius]

Why do England games need a weeks break either side of them when there's no issue putting 2 games in a week for club teams under normal circumstances.
Almost the entire champions and europa league for instance takes place alongside domestic competition.

But they don't have a week's break either side of them - the last friendly was on Tuesday 27th March and there was a full premiership program on the next Saturday, the 31st March.

There were premiership matches on the 1st October 2017 before a qualifier on the 5th October; A qualifier on the 14th November followed by a full premiership program on the 18th.

The "week's break" either side of them is a myth; at most, they seem to get an extra day and even that's arguable.

And last week?

[Agelastus]

Why do England games need a weeks break either side of them when there's no issue putting 2 games in a week for club teams under normal circumstances.
Almost the entire champions and europa league for instance takes place alongside domestic competition.

But they don't have a week's break either side of them - the last friendly was on Tuesday 27th March and there was a full premiership program on the next Saturday, the 31st March.

There were premiership matches on the 1st October 2017 before a qualifier on the 5th October; A qualifier on the 14th November followed by a full premiership program on the 18th.

The "week's break" either side of them is a myth; at most, they seem to get an extra day and even that's arguable.

And last week?

Last week was in my post - that you quoted; played on Tuesday 27th March, full Premiership program on Saturday 31st March. Nowhere near a full week.

The week before - played Saturday in the premiership, then the first friendly was on Friday - so, nearly a week. However, last year during the world cup qualifiers there were premiership matches on Sunday with a qualifier on the following Thursday (see October.)

So no, England does not get a week off "before and after" - even any extra can be arguable if you consider the average to be 2 matches a week for the top sides in England.