The All Soccer Thread(US soccer, EPL, European leagues, Spanish/Mexican leagues.)

[Lionheart88]

Any one of a number of incredibly competent MLS coaches (Caleb Porter comes to mind immediately)

Indeed.  FC Dallas' Oscar Pareja would be a good one, but might be even better filling the Technical Director side of Klinsmann's responsibilities (and really, those two jobs should never have been both given to the same person.  It's too much work for one man to give adequate time to both).  Peter Vermes of Sporting KC or Jesse Marsch of the NY Red Bulls would be good options.  Honestly, I would personally be happy bringing back Bruce Arena or Bob Bradley, both did at least as well (arguably better) with shallower talent pools.  I'm sure there are a dozen international coaches who'd be fine choices as well.

[WPWells]

Time for the Copa final! If Chile wins then I win $130!

[VHSCoach2]

Chile wins it 0(4)-0(2)!

[WPWells]

If we ever have an FF FC meet-up, the first round is on me with my winnings

[Longfellow]

Messi says he may never play with Argentina in international competition again

[1-Adam-12]

OH MY MY MY MY MY MY MY!!

Talk about your Brexit.

Iceland have beaten England.

Vincent Kompany on ESPN had a well taken point: 

This was in many ways a BIGGER upset than Leicester winning the PL.  This because what Iceland have to pick from is what few players they have in the PL plus many players playing in lesser leagues around the world.

For England this was essentially a PL All-Star team, at least for their home grown talent.

Oh. My. Days.

[AirWarren]

England in my opinion, should rarely lose.

[WPWells]

Iceland

[Longfellow]

I love to see Wayne Rooney lose, and him losing to an underdog like Iceland just makes it that much sweeter. I would love to be the color commentator for one of their matches. Their names are just fun to say

[AirWarren]

Anything affiliated with Manchester United losing makes me happy.

[VHSCoach2]

New report is out saying that Diego Costa wants out of his contract with Chelsea.

[VHSCoach2]

Mighty Wales advances to the Eruo semifinals with a 3-1 victory over Belgium!

Let's see if they can keep their winning ways going and advance to the final with a victory over Ronaldo and Portugal on Wednesday.

[1-Adam-12]

You should see the Hal Robson-Kanu goal for Wales.

With his back to two defenders, he faked them both out, split them and hit an unstoppable shot.

By the way, he is a free agent, with Championship side Reading having released him.  Won't be long before he has another team to play for, I'd wager.

Wales vs Iceland in the finals??  With the way those two teams are playing, don't bet against it.

[AirWarren]

Let's go Wales!

[Lionheart88]

I'll bet they're celebrating in

[WPWells]

I want Wales v. Iceland so bad

[1-Adam-12]

Thank you, Iceland, for reminding us how international soccer is to be played (with spirit), for having so much heart, and for never giving up.

We as soccer fans will never forget you.

[VHSCoach2]

Congratulations to Wales on a spectacular run.

On another note, Messi and his father were found guilty on tax fraud/evasion charges and both were sentenced to 21 months in prison. However, neither is expected to serve the time in prison, as, under Spanish law, any tax crime with a sentence of less than two years can be served through probation.

[Longfellow]

I'm glad you explained that, because when I read it this morning I thought they avoided jail time because of who they were

[WPWells]

Ugh Portugal

[AirWarren]

Ronaldo!

[AirWarren]

Ronaldo!!! European champions!

[WPWells]

Ew

[AirWarren]

Ew

My last name originates in Portugal.

As Garth says, "blame it on my roots" ha

[1-Adam-12]

AW, I think Chelsea picked up a very good player from Leicester City.

N'Golo Kante moves from the King Power to Stamford Bridge. He was a big part of that Foxes' midfield. 

The fee was 32 million pounds, or just over $42 million.

[AirWarren]

AW, I think Chelsea picked up a very good player from Leicester City.

N'Golo Kante moves from the King Power to Stamford Bridge. He was a big part of that Foxes' midfield. 

The fee was 32 million pounds, or just over $42 million.

Yea. Was discussing it with my father in in law today at lunch. Should be a great product for Conte and Chelsea.

[1-Adam-12]

Liverpool is playing Roma in St. Louis on August 1.  That might be a good one and close enough for Arkansas soccer fans to go watch.

Unfortunately, a work day for me.

[AirWarren]

Work day for me too. Sigh.

[WPWells]

I was so upset that this was a work day for me. I am a Liverpool supporter and would have loved to go

[AirWarren]

I was so upset that this was a work day for me. I am a Liverpool supporter and would have loved to go

Waiting for the day, when Chelsea plays at Jerry's World.

[beach bum]

AW I think you should have the honor of starting up the 2016-2017 All Soccer Thread.... I believe the time has come for us to begin a new chapter. Well over 1,000 posts to this thread. Great job my friends!

[Lionheart88]

Women play their opening game tonight at 5!  Come watch the game with the Outlaws at Dugan's!

[beach bum]

The Premier League starts in a week and a half to go hand in hand with the Olympics.....

[Lionheart88]

Thought that foul on Heath a minute ago could've been a red, she was pretty clearly through on goal, last defender tripped her up just outside the box.

[WPWells]

Agreed

[VHSCoach2]

The 2016-17 English League Championship kicks off today at 1:45 PM with Fulham hosting new ELC member Newcastle United.  In most of the preseason predictions that I've read, Newcastle is the favorite in the ELC to win the league and move back into the Premier League next season.

[VHSCoach2]

And Fulham upends the preseason favorite!  1-nil over Newcastle United to start the season!

[VHSCoach2]

English Championship League - Week 1
Fulham 1-0 Newcastle United*, FT
Birmingham City 0-0 Cardiff City, FT
Blackburn Rovers 1-4 Norwich City*, FT
Bristol City 2-1 Wigan Athletic*, FT
Derby County 0-0 Brighton & Hove Albion, FT
Huddersfield Town 2-1 Brentford, FT
Ipswich Town 4-2 Barnsley*
Nottingham Forest 4-3 Burton Albion*, FT
Reading 1-0 Preston North End, FT
Rotherham United 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers, FT
Queens Park Rangers 3-0 Leeds United, FT
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Aston Villa*, FT

English League One - Week 1:
Bolton Wanderers* 1-0 Sheffield United, FT
Bradford City 0-0 Port Vale, FT
Bury 2-0 Charlton Athletic*, FT
Millwall 3-0 Oldham Athletic, FT
Northampton Town* 1-1 Fleetwood Town, FT
Oxford United* 1-1 Chesterfield, FT
Rochdale 2-3 Peterborough United, FT
Scunthorpe United 3-1 Bristol Rovers*, FT
Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Milton Keynes Dons*, FT
Southend United 1-3 Gillingham, FT
Swindon Town 1-0 Coventry City, FT
Walsall 3-1 AFC Wimbledon*, FT

English League Two - Week 1:
Accringston Stanley 3-2 Doncaster Rovers*, FT
Blackpool* 2-0 Exeter City, FT
Cambridge United 1-1 Barnet, FT
Cheltenham Town* 1-1 Leyton Orient, FT
Crawley Town 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers, FT
Grimsby Town* 2-0 Morcambe, FT
Hartlepool United 1-1 Colchester United*, FT
Newport County 2-3 Mansfield Town, FT
Plymouth Argyle 0-3 Luton Town, FT
Portsmouth 1-1 Carlisle United, FT
Stevenage 1-2 Crewe Alexandra*, FT
Yeovil Town 2-0 Notts County, FT

*-new club in the league

[AirWarren]

EPL begins Friday folks!

The Conte Regime begins at CHELSEA FC!

[Lionheart88]

I'm hearing Roberto Mancini out at Internazionale.  Odd move this close to the season kicking off.

[Go Postal]

Anyone watching the Olympic soccer games?

[beach bum]

Anyone watching the Olympic soccer games?

I am rooting for the demise of the Brazilians against Denmark.... I think Brazil looks like they are going to pull a win out actually. I want to see all the Brazilians go home crying tonight with a loss.

[Lionheart88]

Crazy semifinal in the US Open Cup last night.  0-0 at the end of regulation between LA and Dallas, then three goals in extra time (one in stoppage time), sending Dallas through 2-1.

[beach bum]

Premier League in 2 days everybody..... My predictions are as followed for the coming season

Champions League (top 4):
Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham

Europa League ( 5 & 6):
West Ham & Arsenal

Rounding out the top half (7-10):
Chelsea, Leicester City, Everton, Southampton

Safely stay in the EPL (11-14)
Swansea City, Sunderland, Stoke City, Middlesbrough

Fight off relegation (15-17):
Bournemouth, Watford, Crystal Palace

Relegated (18-20):
Burnley, Hull City, West Bromwich Albion

[beach bum]

I would say the surprises that I predicted above would be.....

Liverpool- putting them in the top 4 is a slight surprise but they don't have any European midweek games so they will play their top squad each week which will suit well for the Reds.

Arsenal- I would say a 5th or 6th place finish would be very bad for the Gunners and Wenger would be managing his last season in north London if this happens

Chelsea- most pundits are predicting Chelsea to at minimum to get back in the top 6 and most have them in the top 4. I feel they are lacking chemistry for whatever reason it may be and it will hurt them in a few games and drop vital points on the table

Leicester City- Even though I predicted them were most experts are too finishing 8th or so after a year winning the league would be a let down

Sunderland- putting them safely in where I did definitely would be a surprise because they like to skate on thin ice as we know. However, I don't think Sunderland did a whole lot in the offseason, but neither did the other lower table teams so I see Sunderland with experience having a decent year by their standards.

Middlesbrough- predicting them to safely stay in the EPL would be great for them and a little bit of a surprise if that happens. They had the best defense in the Championship last season so I think that suits them better off in the Premier League than the other 2 promoted teams.

West Brom- they have been in the EPL for a little run in years so dropping out would be a bad deal for them. They played very lackluster in the second half of the year with goals hard to come by kind of like Crystal Palace so I could see either one of those clubs getting relegated but I will pick West Brom to drop out

[VHSCoach2]

Premier League, Week 1:

Hull City* 2-1 Leicester City, FT
Burnley* 0-1 Swansea City, FT
Crystal Palace 0-1 West Bromwich Albion, FT
Everton 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur, FT
Middlesbrough* 1-1 Stoke City FT
Southampton 1-1 Watford, FT
Manchester City 2-1 Sunderland, FT
AFC Bournemouth-Manchester United, 8/14 7:30 AM
Arsenal-Liverpool, 8/14 10:00 AM
Chelsea-West Ham United, 8/15 2:00 PM

English League Championship, Week 2:

Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Nottingham Forest, FT
Aston Villa* 3-0 Rotherham United, FT
Barnsley* 2-0 Derby County, FT
Brentford 2-0 Ipswich Town, FT
Burton Albion* 1-2 Bristol City, FT
Leeds United 1-2 Birmingham City, FT
Newcastle United* 1-2 Huddersfield Town, FT
Preston North End 1-2 Fulham, FT
Wigan Athletic* 3-0 Blackburn Rovers, FT
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Reading, FT
Norwich City* 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday, FT
Cardiff City-Queens Park Rangers, 8/14 9:00 AM

English League One, Week 2:

AFC Wimbledon* 1-2 Bolton Wanderers*, FT
Charlton Athletic* 1-1 Northampton Town*, FT
Chesterfield 3-1 Swindon Town, FT
Coventry City 0-0 Shrewsbury Town, FT
Fleetwood Town 2-2 Scunthorpe United, FT
Gillingham 2-1 Bury, FT
Milton Keynes Dons* 2-2 Millwall, FT
Oldham Athletic 0-0 Walsall, FT
Peterborough United 0-1 Bradford City, FT
Port Vale 2-0 Southend United, FT
Sheffield United 1-1 Rochdale, FT
Bristol Rovers*-Oxford United, 8/14 9:00 AM

English League Two, Week 2:

Barnet 2-0 Accrington Stanley, FT
Carlisle United 1-0 Plymouth Argyle, FT
Colchester United* 2-0 Cambridge United, FT
Crewe Alexandra* 0-0 Portsmouth, FT
Doncaster Rovers* 1-1 Crawley Town, FT
Exeter City 1-2 Hartlepool United, FT
Leyton Orient 0-1 Newport County, FT
Luton Town 1-1 Yeovil Town, FT
Mansfield Town 1-1 Cheltenham Town*, FT
Morecambe 2-1 Blackpool*, FT
Notts County 1-1 Stevenage, FT
Wycome Wanderers 2-1 Grimsby Town*, FT

*-new club in the league

[1-Adam-12]

Manchester United has put together an array of talent that even outstrips that of City.  If Mourinho can't win the league with what has been given him this season.....

I have United as the clear favorites.  And I don't think LC slips that much as they kept most of the squad intact, and what they lost I think they actually upgraded from the players they lost (except for Kante, and I think Gray will prove to be just as good).

Here's my take.

1. Man Utd
2. Tottenham
3. Leicester
4. Arsenal
5. Liverpool
6. Man City
7. West Ham
8. Chelsea
9. Everton
10. Southampton
11. Stoke
12. Swansea
13. Middlesbrough
14. Bournemouth
15. Sunderland
16. Crystal Palace
17. Watford
18. Burnley
19. West Brom
20. Hull

[1-Adam-12]

USWNT beaten by Sweden on PKs.  For the first time, no medal for them.

After Solo's remarks, she may have played her last game for the team.  Calling Sweden team a bunch of cowards was unacceptable.

And saying the best team didn't win?  Though it went to the crapshoot called PK's, in those Tre Kronor were better, and so today they were the better team.

Nothing to do about it but regroup and bounce back.

[beach bum]

Since the Premier League started today I think this can be the beginning of the 2016-2017 soccer thread. How about that rag tag Hull City winning against Leicester City today?

[WPWells]

Liverpool! Go go you Reds!