Football (Soccer) Thread

[Liep]

Bases only on picture it's horrifying, going completely uncontrollably into a challenge like that against a goalie must be worth at least 5 games out.

[Valmy]

Don't usual yank sports have setups like cricket tests rather than one off finals and it's purely done in a basis of who won more with actual scores irrelevant?

Each Yank sport has its own rules. Points scored does become a factor in ties in American Football (NFL), Basketball (NBA), and Hockey (NHL) but you have to go pretty far down the list of tie breakers before points, or goals, scored enters into the picture. In baseball (MLB) if there is a tie they just play extra games, which can get a little weird in the dreaded three way tie but that has only happened twice in 150+ years of Baseball seasons.

As far as I know Soccer/Football (MLS) uses the same tie breakers most other football leagues use. They use aggregate goals and everything.

[Valmy]

Yeah the aim during the season is basically to make it to the playoffs. Form during the season is mostly inconsequential except it can decide how tough your playoff schedule might be. Better results during the season means a higher seed and/or home advantage in the playoffs.

Yeah, single elimination playoffs wildly reward teams that reach peak form later in the season, rather than a team who has kept a better average during the regular season. It makes the regular season slightly pointless.

The American experience was just the opposite. Remember our first big sports league was the National League (baseball) and it had lots of teams in it, and the champion was simply the team with the best record at the end of the season...but the impact was that the fans of the teams that were behind kind of checked out early on. Without something like regulation to keep the bottom clubs sweating it just doesn't work without a big playoff.

[Duque de Bragança]

Speaking of Yank sport vs Association Football:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-league-soccer/story/4341340/potential-mls-liga-mx-merger-would-be-seen-in-a-positive-light-infantino

"I think the potential in the United States and Mexico is enormous, each country by itself. But of course if you could bring those two together that would be incredible and that could quite well be the best league in the world," Infantino said during an online news conference.

"Any discussion about organising such a competition, of course respecting the rules of member associations and FIFA and with the agreement of all stakeholders, any discussion in that respect, is interesting and we see that in a positive light," he added.

Latest brilliant idea by Gianni Infantino. Comments? 
Article reminds the very dissimilar organisation of both leagues.

[The Larch]

Yeah the aim during the season is basically to make it to the playoffs. Form during the season is mostly inconsequential except it can decide how tough your playoff schedule might be. Better results during the season means a higher seed and/or home advantage in the playoffs.

Yeah, single elimination playoffs wildly reward teams that reach peak form later in the season, rather than a team who has kept a better average during the regular season. It makes the regular season slightly pointless.

The American experience was just the opposite. Remember our first big sports league was the National League (baseball) and it had lots of teams in it, and the champion was simply the team with the best record at the end of the season...but the impact was that the fans of the teams that were behind kind of checked out early on. Without something like regulation to keep the bottom clubs sweating it just doesn't work without a big playoff.

Maybe it'd work if there werent roughly 85 million games of baseball each season. 

[Sheilbh]

Latest brilliant idea by Gianni Infantino. Comments? 
Article reminds the very dissimilar organisation of both leagues.

Leave the Mexican league alone!

Although I quite liked his idea of a pan-African super league.

[Josquius]

The Mexican league having  a team or two across the border does make sense.

[FunkMonk]

https://twitter.com/MessiMX10i/status/1373664183590486020

Disgusting free kick.

[Sheilbh]

The Mexican league having  a team or two across the border does make sense.

Mexican league has more viewers in the US than the Premier League and make pretty good TV money from it, plus it's one of the highest attendances in all of global football (I think only the Premiership, La Liga and Bundesliga have bigger crowds). Plus it's a weird/cool isolationist league - because it's got money they basically get the South Americans who aren't quite good enough to go to Europe (though the MLS is moving in on this territory) and unless you're one of the best in the country if you want to get picked for the national team you need to stay in Mexico.

There's financial and other issues - but leave the Mexican league alone!

[Valmy]

Yeah the aim during the season is basically to make it to the playoffs. Form during the season is mostly inconsequential except it can decide how tough your playoff schedule might be. Better results during the season means a higher seed and/or home advantage in the playoffs.

Yeah, single elimination playoffs wildly reward teams that reach peak form later in the season, rather than a team who has kept a better average during the regular season. It makes the regular season slightly pointless.

The American experience was just the opposite. Remember our first big sports league was the National League (baseball) and it had lots of teams in it, and the champion was simply the team with the best record at the end of the season...but the impact was that the fans of the teams that were behind kind of checked out early on. Without something like regulation to keep the bottom clubs sweating it just doesn't work without a big playoff.

Maybe it'd work if there werent roughly 85 million games of baseball each season. 

Basketball and Hockey have the same issue. Very very long regular seasons and, if anything, the season means even less in those sports.

The NFL also had a long run with no playoff and I think it works best in that sport but even then everybody loves the playoffs.

[Duque de Bragança]

The Mexican league having  a team or two across the border does make sense.

Mexican league has more viewers in the US than the Premier League and make pretty good TV money from it, plus it's one of the highest attendances in all of global football (I think only the Premiership, La Liga and Bundesliga have bigger crowds). Plus it's a weird/cool isolationist league - because it's got money they basically get the South Americans who aren't quite good enough to go to Europe (though the MLS is moving in on this territory) and unless you're one of the best in the country if you want to get picked for the national team you need to stay in Mexico.

There's financial and other issues - but leave the Mexican league alone!

No argument there. 

Apertura and Clausura phase, liguilla (play-offs), very idiosyncratic, so not exactly easy to combine with a very different model.
What's in for Liga MX anyways? CONCACAF Champions' League is dominated by Mexicans clubs anyways.

[Admiral Yi]

Are Mexican fans still nasty? It has been a while since I've heard about battery throwing.

[Barrister]

Basketball and Hockey have the same issue. Very very long regular seasons and, if anything, the season means even less in those sports.

The NFL also had a long run with no playoff and I think it works best in that sport but even then everybody loves the playoffs.

NFL doesn't have a long run though - there's only 16 games.

NBA and NHL can certainly have that problem.  The final weeks of the season can be funny - you'll have the teams at the top who just worry about not getting injured, the teams at the bottom who have mostly checked out, but it's the teams in the middle who are righting to get/stay in the playoffs.

[Sheilbh]

Are Mexican fans still nasty? It has been a while since I've heard about battery throwing.

Latin American fans are intense

I don't even think Mexico is the worst compared to how things can get in, say, Argentina.

[Admiral Yi]

Latin American fans are intense

I don't even think Mexico is the worst compared to how things can get in, say, Argentina.

Stop gaysplaining. 

I know about Boca Junior and all that.  The nastiness of Mexican fans is relevant if the topic is merging leagues.

Although, do Argentine fans throw shit at visiting players?  I wouldn't be surprised but it's not something I've specifically seen mentioned.