World Soccer XXX: We Have Men Too!

[Kepler]

TBF, it’s every four years instead of every year now so the field really went from 28 to 32.

Oh.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

It astounds me how some soccer commentators will have an entire narrative put together and speak about it in definite terms when a game is tied or within a goal. In the Man U-Aston Villa match Man U put together a huge comeback to go up 3-2 in the 80th. Even at 2-2 they were talking like Aston Villa had no chance to win, and by 3-2 they acted like Man U had just walked it off. Ignoring that the ten minutes without stoppage was just a bit less than it took Man U to score their first two, and that with the 9 minutes of stoppage time there ended up being 20 minutes remaining, which was just a bit less than it took Man U to score all their goals, it might as well have been 7-2 the way they spoke.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

Level 6 Maidstone United is through to the 4th round of the FA Cup (round of 32).

 

[dxmnkd316]

Level 6 Maidstone United is through to the 4th round of the FA Cup (round of 32).

So how rare is this? Is this a 12-5 upset or are we talking like a 15 in the elite eight?

 

[Spartanforlife4]

So how rare is this? Is this a 12-5 upset or are we talking like a 15 in the elite eight?

It looks like a Level 6 has made it three of the last four years, but before that it hadn’t happened since at least 2006 (then wiki stops listing the pyramid levels). 4s and 5s are common to make it this far, but really it’s partly luck of the draw. Teams aren’t seeded, everyone just goes into the same pot. Maidstone could’ve easily played a PL club last round but instead got to play a Level 3 squad.

Still, I’d say it’s more akin to a 15 seed in the Elite Eight.


Whats cool about the FA Cup, but I really can’t see lasting much longer as they already got rid of them in the quarterfinals, is they go old school and do full replays if the first match ends in a draw.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Cool. Thanks for the info.

I did a quick look at the wiki page but it's... hard to parse since it's such an unusual format for a tournament.

 

[Jimjamesak]

It looks like a Level 6 has made it three of the last four years, but before that it hadn’t happened since at least 2006 (then wiki stops listing the pyramid levels). 4s and 5s are common to make it this far, but really it’s partly luck of the draw. Teams aren’t seeded, everyone just goes into the same pot. Maidstone could’ve easily played a PL club last round but instead got to play a Level 3 squad.

Still, I’d say it’s more akin to a 15 seed in the Elite Eight.


Whats cool about the FA Cup, but I really can’t see lasting much longer as they already got rid of them in the quarterfinals, is they go old school and do full replays if the first match ends in a draw.

They use to do replays for every round and marathon replays too. Basically if a match tied, they'd do a replay. If the replay was tied they'd do another replay and so on.

Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday had to do four replays back in 1979.

 

[Jimjamesak]

On that note, People complain about fixture congestion these days but it was a lot worse in the past. Arsenal played 70 games in 1979/80. 42 league games, 7 League Cup games (including two replays), 11 in the FA Cup (including 5 replays, 3 in the semifinals alone), 9 in the Cup Winners Cup, and the Charity Shield.

And you were only allowed one substitute back then too. Only 19 players in the squad too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979–80_Arsenal_F.C._season

 

[Kepler]

On that note, People complain about fixture congestion these days but it was a lot worse in the past. Arsenal played 70 games in 1979/80. 42 league games, 7 League Cup games (including two replays), 11 in the FA Cup (including 5 replays, 3 in the semifinals alone), 9 in the Cup Winners Cup, and the Charity Shield.

And you were only allowed one substitute back then too. Only 19 players in the squad too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979%E...al_F.C._season

I wonder if the game was as fast paced though. It's like saying hockey teams used to only skate 3 lines. Yeah, but watch old footage -- they are slllllllllllllllllow.

I'll bet with modern conditioning and science soccer is much, much faster and more demanding, now.

 

[Stauber1]

I wonder if the game was as fast paced though. It's like saying hockey teams used to only skate 3 lines. Yeah, but watch old footage -- they are slllllllllllllllllow.

I'll bet with modern conditioning and science soccer is much, much faster and more demanding, now.

It wasnt. Without question. But the point still stands that that was a lot (too much?) football, and does put the current gripes I to a bit more perspective. Though it seems pretty clear that the top players at the top clubs today are asked to play a lot of matches, and it makes sense to dial it back (not that it will be. Way too much money left on the table)

 

[Jimjamesak]

I wonder if the game was as fast paced though. It's like saying hockey teams used to only skate 3 lines. Yeah, but watch old footage -- they are slllllllllllllllllow.

I'll bet with modern conditioning and science soccer is much, much faster and more demanding, now.

Slow but also very very rough. Things that would be an automatic red card these days didn't warrant as much of a blink back then. Soccer in the 70's and 80's (and somewhat in the early 90's) was as much of a warzone as it was a game.

 

[Jimjamesak]

It wasnt. Without question. But the point still stands that that was a lot (too much?) football, and does put the current gripes I to a bit more perspective. Though it seems pretty clear that the top players at the top clubs today are asked to play a lot of matches, and it makes sense to dial it back (not that it will be. Way too much money left on the table)

The kvetching about "fixture congestion" these days is because the international game has expanded greatly, the Euros was only 8 teams back then, the World Cup was 16. Qualifying was shorter for the major countries (fewer countries back then) and, outside of things like the British Home Championship, there wasn't as many minor competitions. Most of the complaining these days is lead by clubs who are angry the national FAs are honing in on their money pie. It's not without merit but it does come with a caveat.

 

[Kepler]

Slow but also very very rough. Things that would be an automatic red card these days didn't warrant as much of a blink back then. Soccer in the 70's and 80's (and somewhat in the early 90's) was as much of a warzone as it was a game.

Yeah, the movie about Brian Clough really opened my eyes about how the game used to be played. It was, much like hockey, just a bunch of goons with clubs, only those clubs were their legs instead of sticks.

I'm shocked people weren't crippled or killed. Maybe they were.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Yeah, the movie about Brian Clough really opened my eyes about how the game used to be played. It was, much like hockey, just a bunch of goons with clubs, only those clubs were their legs instead of sticks.

I'm shocked people weren't crippled or killed. Maybe they were.

I'm shocked guys like Pele and Maradona were able to walk after their careers were done.

Edit: It's amazing how much of a shift the game had in the 90's, the difference between the 1990 and 1998 World Cups is night and day. Between television and some drastic rules changes it's amazing how different things became.

 

[Kepler]

I'm shocked guys like Pele and Maradona were able to walk after their careers were done.

Did they have enforcers to protect them? Did they protect themselves, like Howe?

 

[Jimjamesak]

Did they have enforcers to protect them?

Not really. I mean, you can't fight and taking out a defender wasn't the same as taking out a Pele or Mardonna.

The closest soccer ever got to enforcers was in the mid 2000s when everyone was playing the 3-5-2 and guys like Gattuso and Makelele played CDM to protect Pirlo and Zidane. Though that was "protect" in the sense that they would win the ball back if there was a turnover.

 

[Kepler]

Not really. I mean, you can't fight and taking out a defender wasn't the same as taking out a Pele or Mardonna.

I assume in our more hot-blooded countries it would be solved one way or another.

 

[Jimjamesak]

I assume in our more hot-blooded countries it would be solved one way or another.

You should read some of the stories around the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

 

[Jimjamesak]

So Minnesota United star Emanuel Reynoso has, for the second straight season, not reported to preseason training.

Which would be a big issue but MNUFC also doesn’t have a coaching staff in place either.

 

[Spartanforlife4]

Algeria, Ghana, and Tunisia all are eliminated in the group stage of AFCON.

And Palestine made the Round of 16 at the Asian Cup.