Soccer (The “real football”)

[funkyjudge]

I’m sure that there must be more “soccer freaks” here on the MGS Forum than just me, so I decided to start this new discussion:

I watch all manner of international and domestic “soccer”, or football as most followers and supporters outside of the USA call it. From MLS and the USL Championship here in North America to all of the CONCACAF competitions (particularly the CONCACAF Champions Cup, which is now being contested) to the EPL, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga to the various UEFA competitions (Champions and Europa Leagues, in particular), and of course the FIFA World Cup, it’s all of great interest to me!

Watching today’s “absolutely brilliant” (quote from the commentators following the match’s conclusion) match between Liverpool and Manchester City, I thought that this would be the perfect time to start a discussion regarding all things “football” (and NOT the game that we Americans call football). Let’s not limit the discussion to the EPL, but I will start with my thoughts on this battle for first place in the Premier League table, where neither of the combatants ended up in the top spot (more on that below). Here is what I think:

• I actually thought that this one was fairly likely to result in a draw, which it did., with a final score of 1-1. Liverpool, playing on home turf and having been in first place, although by a VERY slim margin, should have had the slightest edge in this match, but Man City has been “on a roll” recently, both in the EPL and in international competitions. Still, with Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp announcing his retirement (or at least that he is stepping away) at the end of this season, I thought that this might give Liverpool the advantage.
• This is great for Arsenal, who have not finished at the top of the table in English football in a very long time, but the spot up top is very precarious with such a slim goal differential-only margin and a difficult schedule for the rest of the league season. I sort of hope that the “Gunners” can cling to the top spot, but it’s not going to be easy and thus is quite unlikely.
• This match was indeed “brilliant”, as the announcers stated, with lots of end-to-end action, excellent defensive play, but also numerous chances at goals for both sides. Possibly the only better match that I have seen this year was the Bundesliga battle between the unbeaten and unlikely league leaders Bayer Leverkeusen and my favorites Bayern Munich a couple of weeks ago.

I am excited about not only the balance of the EPL campaign, but also regarding Serie A (go, AC Milan!), the Bundesliga and La Liga( can someone knock off Real Madrid? Probably not, and hopefully it WON’T be Barcelona).

What say you, fellow “soccer heads”?

Edited March 11 by funkyjudge