Category: Soccer

Ronaldo With The Goal of the Year Contender Against Juventus

 

Ronaldo scored a brace yesterday to bring his scoring record to 10 consecutive CL games (15 goals) — capitalized by this bicycle kick that brought even Juventus fans to cheer for him.

https://twitter.com/MHChehade/status/981266205154725889

Class moment from the Juve fans especially after realizing they’re going to lose the tie to Madrid, who knocked them out in the final last year. Ronaldo with the thankful reaction too and went on the praise the Juve fans in his post-game presser. Awesome goal, awesome moment all around. If you don’t believe me, let’s take a look at everybody’s favorite athlete’s reaction:

Alexis Sanchez Joins the Red Devils

After the longest winter transfer saga (and last summer to be fair), Alexis Sanchez is now a member of Manchester United.

The price that was paid to Arsenal was actually non-exist and we got a player-swap which actually is the only cool thing about this entire long and drawn out story. Henrikh Mkhitaryan heads over to Arsenal as the two player straight up swapped places. Alexis is obviously the prize here as he is one of the best players in the Premier League but he was leaving in the summer regardless so this was not a huge loss for Arsenal. Of course, the Gunners completely mismanaged the situation but to get Mkhitaryan isn’t the worst runner up prize.

Alexis is Champion League eligible and looks to boost Man United into a successful season.

Ronaldinho Hangs Up His Cleats

The soccer world has lost a legend today as Ronaldinho has called it quits after an amazing playing career. This generation grew up with Ronaldinho and I’m sure he has influenced a ton of fans into playing and watching soccer.

He was impossible to hate and made everything look so effortless.  Of course, he was only playing in Brazil right now and not at a high level but the man made the game fun — which I wish a lot more players would do so today. In terms of entertainment value, Ronaldinho may have been the best player ever. He finishes his career with a World Cup, Ballon d’Or, a Champions League title, 2 La Liga titles, and a Serie A title. Not too shabby.

I leave you all with a highlight video and here’s to hoping someone comes along that is 50% as entertaining and skilled as ‘dinho.

Christian Pulisic Claims Americans’ Expectations For Him Are Too High

Not exactly what you want to be hearing from the future of the US Men’s National Team but here we are. Why would Pulisic say this? Well let’s take a live look at ESPN..

Comparing him to Messi & Ronaldo? Never change ESPN. This is definitely a bit far-fetched and I will admit the expectations for Pulisic are essentially to save the US men’s soccer program — especially after the embarrassment this fall of not qualifying for the World Cup this year. The fallout has already started, with young star Jonathan Gonzalez committing to Mexico over the United States.

“I would say that the expectations some Americans put on me is too much,” he said. “But I don’t take it that way. I know no one means harm to me or wants to put too much pressure on me. It’s kind of what they’ve done or do in the past. A lot of countries do.”

 The quote isn’t that outrageous but the US needs this kid to be everything that Freddy Adu wasn’t. US Soccer has never been as down as it is right now and this kid is one of the brightest stars. He plays a significant role on a top team in a top four league in Europe so things are looking bright.

“It’s not about completely restarting. It’s not like we have everything wrong or we panic,” he said. “It’s about developing what we already have into even better. I think if we continue to do that then of course players will come up and there will be new talents. I think if we do that and build on what we already have, we can really create something.”

It does seem like he has a good head on his shoulders and he’s only 19. Get this team a real coach and see if he can shine.

Office Lock of the Day 1/3

Finally a loss on the office lock. Can’t be perfect in betting — just not possible. 5 wins in 6 games isn’t bad so we are going to bounce back in the new year.

Arsenal vs Chelsea -0 (-122)

Taking the draw no bet for the off chance that Chelsea isn’t able to put one in the night. Arsenal is at home but are missing a few key players due to injury (Ramsay, Giroud, Ozil) and Chelsea are on form and just bagged in 5 against a decent Stoke team over the weekend. I see this being a 1 goal victory for Chelsea in a low-scoring affair, despite being at Emirates. Take Chelsea with the DNB for some cover if they draw.

 

LOTD: 5-1-0    Form: WWWWL

Last Pick

Transfer Madness: Virgil van Dijk Completes £75 million Liverpool Move.

Madness!!! We are shade over 48 hours from the opening of the January transfer window, and Liverpool captured the central defender they have been been hunting for nearly 6 months.

Quick breakdown of transfer business briefly before I get into a rant. There are two opportunities teams can add new players. The Summer window is the first opportunity to purchase players. The window is open from July 1st, with deadline day coming on August 31st (think trade deadline in U.S. sports). The second, is the January Window, open from January 1 to 31st.

The Virgil van Dijk saga had been going on since the summer began. He had made it clear he wanted to move to a bigger club than Southampton. A move never materialized as he was under contract with Southampton, and they were intent on keeping the player instead of selling. Liverpool were 1 of 2 teams interested in the summer. Manchester City were the other.

The transfer has been completed at long last after months of speculation. Even though it is a few days before the window opens, the clubs agreed to the £75 million fee, and Virgil passed his Liverpool physical. The club even announced it a few days early, but he won’t be able to join Juergen Klopp’s side until January 1st.

Let me be the first to say that this transfer is an absolute joke. The £75 million pound fee is the highest ever paid for a defender. Not just in the Premier League, but the WORLD. Utter nonsense!!! Virgil is a very good player, and will vastly improve Liverpool’s trash back-line don’t get me wrong.

(^ LOL clowns)

He’s not the best defender in the world. For the longest time, that title went to Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid. Now, you could throw a few other names in the mix.

Let me just name 10 defenders I’d rather spend big money on. In no particular order:

1. Mats Hummels

2. Sergio Ramos

3. Raphael Varane

4. Gerard Piqué

5. Cesar Azpilicueta

6. Jérôme Boateng

7. Dani Alves

8. Thiago Silva

9. Leonardo Bonucci

10. Marcelo

Now, I would take each one of these guys in a heartbeat. I would NOT pay £75 million for ANY of them. Those 10 are world class too. Best of the best defenders money can buy. Notice how the majority of them played for Champions League teams. Bayern Munich, Paris Saint German, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and none from fucking Southampton.

Virgil will certainly help Liverpool, and at the end of the day, there’s no salary cap. What the fuck do I care? He definitely can play. He’s got good mobility for a defender, and posses great ball skills. Traits not owned by many defenders, let alone big central defenders. I don’t really care about the price tag, I am just shocked. All I can pray for is this man flops under Klopp. Fuck Liverpool man, fuck ’em.

Update: Philipp Lahm retired, never fear Thiago Silva is here. I guess I’ll go screw now.

Harry Kane Becomes Highest Goal-Scorer of 2017

Harry Kane bagged a hat-trick today against Southampton to bring his goal total to an astounding 56 goals in the calendar year of 2017. We always refer to Messi & Ronaldo as the best goal-scorers in the sport and rightfully so.  Here’s his second goal today that put him in first place for the year:

Tottenham’s striker has very quietly put in the most goals in a calendar year in the Premier League as well at 37 goals. To pour on more stats that show how insane this actually is:

Just some casual stats there.  The man has absolutely been on fire all year but will not get close to the same credit as those big names. Not to mention that he’s only 24 and still improving. This was the year for the Spurs to put it all together but they’ve fell flat on their face so far. This can’t take away from the fact that Kane is the best striker in the world right now.  He beat Alan Shearer’s record which many thought was unattainable. Shearer even took to Twitter to congratulate him.

Good to see the support from one of the game’s legends for a kid who’s only destined to improve. If he does it in 2018 again, I think it’s time to give him the respect he deserves.

Champions League Round of 16 Draw

The Champions League draw was today for the remaining 16 teams that qualified in the group stages. Five of those being English teams left us a slim possibility for matchups but there were still some very good draws. Let’s take a look at the draw:

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Some big-time match-ups no doubt. We’re going to highlight the top 3 games to watch.

Image result for juventus tottenhamJuventus vs Tottenham

What an awful draw for group winners Tottenham. Tottenham topped their group, which contained defending champions Real Madrid and a strong Dortmund side. The Spurs have looked excellent in their Champions League campaign despite being dreadful in their domestic league. I like Juventus to win here but it’ll no doubt be a close tie. I think Tottenham is stronger than most of the teams in the draw but I like Juventus to outclass them here as they have a bit more experience in the knockout stages. The Spurs clock in at an average age of 25.7 while Juventus is at 28.8.  Fun fact of this draw? Juventus has been eliminated in the last FIVE times they’ve matched up with an English team.

real-madrid-psg-live-stream-1446529120-800Real Madrid vs PSG

Congrats to PSG for topping their group in record-scoring fashion! Bayern Munich was surely a tough opponent and they completely outclassed them. Munich gets Besiktas in the next round. PSG’s reward you ask? The reigning player of the year and the reigning champions of the year, Real Madrid. Madrid has not looked to be the “Galaticos” of the past but it is hard to count them out at any given moment — especially on the big stage. PSG has been coasting through their league with their new addition — just a guy called Neymar. This is a great measuring tool for PSG to definitively put them in the contenders category. I think PSG is a great squad but I can’t see Ronaldo and Real Madrid being knocked out in the first round of the knockout stages. Give me Real Madrid in a tough one win aggregate series.

 

1789025_w2Chelsea vs Barcelona

Oh how we’ve missed this tie. Chelsea and Barcelona have met 6 times in the Champions League, second only to Madrid-Munich. Chelsea haven’t been as sharp as their league winning campaign last year, and Barcelona has been extremely impressive this year even after the loss of Neymar. Lionel Messi, however, has historically struggled against Chelsea logging 29 shots in 8 games against the club without a single goal. The last time these two teams met, Chelsea drew 2-2 at Camp Nou to send them into the finals (which ultimately they won). It’s going to take a lot of grit but give me Chelsea in a first round upset special. Look for them to be physical with Barcelona and grind out a low-scoring tie.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo wins Ballon d’Or 2017

Another year, another Ballon d’Or for the best player in soccer (yes — he plays for Madrid NOT Barcelona). This is his fifth time winning the award gifted to the best player in the world, tying him with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (who blew a 4-1 lead in trophies, no big deal). The lifelong debate of who is better is always fun and there is no clear cut evidence but the dominance by the two of these players is unheralded. Take a look at the last 10 winners of the Ballon d’Or.

  • 2008: 1st, Cristiano Ronaldo(Manchester United)
  • 2009: 1st, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2010: 2nd, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2011: 3rd, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2012: 4th, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2013: 2nd, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)
  • 2014: 3rd, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)
  • 2015: 5th, Lionel Messi(Barcelona)
  • 2016: 4th, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)
  • 2017: 5th, Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid)

 

Absolutely insane — of course the younger generation (including Neymar) are finally starting to catch up skill wise, but enough can’t be said about these two players. 16% of the Ballon d’Or  awards have gone to these two players. Incredible. Cristiano had a great season last year — leading Madrid to their first La Liga title in 5 years and a third Champions League trophy in four years. Ronaldo scored twice in the final against Juventus en route to a 4-1 victory.

Messi and Neymar rounded out the top 3.

Office Lock of the Day 12/5

The Spurs didn’t make it easy with such hefty odds at the ML but came through when it mattered with a 96-93 win to bring us to 5-0. The spread was -4.5 so the ML was the better call as the Pistons would have won otherwise. Today, we have a huge slate of Champions League games which brings me to the pick:

Celtic FC (-110) vs Anderlecht

Celtic took the first meeting in Brussels 3-0 and I don’t see this one going much different in Scotland. They return Dembele from injury, who is surely able to help out the offense in this one. Celtic is out after being fortunate enough to be in PSG & Bayern Munich’s group but will look to wrap up a Europa spot tonight. Take the boys in Green at home.

LOTD: 5-0-0