**OFFICIAL Association Football 2012/2013 Season thread**

[MickeyG]

LMFAO

(Liverpool Massive Fail At Oldham)

[pieceofme]

Shame Chelsea took it to a replay. They will win that game easily at the bridge. I hate Benetiz so I hope they don't win anything. Would prefer City to win the FA cup instead of Chelsea.

[el_nino]

Chelsea

Agent Benitez

[Rageman]

My Hammers stop the bleeding after seriously sucking ass for about a month.

More MLS players making the move to the Premiership.
Still recovering from injury, Brek Shea will take awhile to get on the field for Stoke but he has flashed lots of potential.
Kei Kamara looks the part but is consistently dodgy in front of goal. Fast and strong but feet of stone at times.
Roger Espinoza wowed at the Olympics for Honduras but Wigan had their eyes on him at least 6 months before that.

Pretty good article about MLS growing reputation for being a feeder league, but a better one.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/stor ... jar-kamara

[el_nino]

Pool bossing Citeh at the minute. 1-1 not a fair reflection of this game. We'll still lose though (sorry Mickey), it's what we do.

[Hellsinkey]

Pool bossing Citeh at the minute. 1-1 not a fair reflection of this game. We'll still lose though (sorry Mickey), it's what we do.

Is it Biggie?

[MickeyG]

I think it's Biggie.

I dunno what Reina was playing at today for City's equalizer, but on most days that Aguero effort would have missed.

[pieceofme]

Thanks Liverpool.

[el_nino]

Yep, it's me.

Great strike from Aguero as well, notebook Liverpool. Dominate, miss chances, bottle it at the end.

[demolition23]

Well, Ryan Nelsen retired last week.

Not a superstar by premier league standards, but arguably New Zealand's greatest ever footballer. Certainly his captaincy of the New Zealand team in the last World Cup was as good a display of leadership as there has been in that tournament. We were meant to be one of the worst teams ever to make it to the Cup, but eventually scratched out three draws, and his influence on that team (as the only player on the team to regularly face world class players) can't be overstated. He'll be missed.

[el_nino]

Gone to manage in the MLS hasn't he? He's well out of QPR anyway.

[Hellsinkey]

Cliff Byford should post here, he's a QPR fan.

[pieceofme]

Gone to manage in the MLS hasn't he? He's well out of QPR anyway.

Yep
Toronto

[Rageman]

Large debate as to if Toronto FC is actually a part of MLS. Team motto appears to be "Re-building Since 2006", their inaugural season.

I think he'll do good if they give him time. Toronto has a bad history with rapid changes. Great fanbase cursed with shitty owners.

[jellyheadrobertson]

Large debate as to if Toronto FC is actually a part of MLS. Team motto appears to be "Re-building Since 2006", their inaugural season.

I think he'll do good if they give him time. Toronto has a bad history with rapid changes. Great fanbase cursed with shitty owners.

The team is a nightmare. Good luck to him.

[pieceofme]

A win tomorrow will put United 12 points clear!

[shocked_the_monkey]

Pretty good article about MLS growing reputation for being a feeder league, but a better one.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/stor ... jar-kamara

Compared to the NASL of past, MLS is sensibly run. Although I think the goal of being a 'premier' league in footballl by 2022 is optimistic. Too much competition from other sports in American and other leagues being too established. You're never going to get an American broadcasting paying 3 billion for tv rights like happened with the EPL.

But, the popularity of soccer as a youth sport only bodes well for the sport in the US.

[MickeyG]

It would be a monumental fuck up for Fergie to blow this now.

[Hellsinkey]

It would be a monumental fuck up for Fergie to blow this now.

I hope he learned from last season. He changed to stronger lineup after Citeh's loss, just to make a longer gap.

All in all a good football day, son's team won two and had one draw out of three.

[pieceofme]

Pretty good article about MLS growing reputation for being a feeder league, but a better one.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/stor ... jar-kamara

Compared to the NASL of past, MLS is sensibly run. Although I think the goal of being a 'premier' league in footballl by 2022 is optimistic. Too much competition from other sports in American and other leagues being too established. You're never going to get an American broadcasting paying 3 billion for tv rights like happened with the EPL.

But, the popularity of soccer as a youth sport only bodes well for the sport in the US.

Plus there is also the issue of the wage cap in place for the MLS.

[MickeyG]

Well, the Premier League has just agreed a salary cap too, for future years. As well as a cap on losses. The salary cap is a bit weird as I think it is just a cap on what teams can do with the extra TV money they are going to get. You can still spend what you want of your commercial or gate receipts.

[pieceofme]

Well, the Premier League has just agreed a salary cap too, for future years. As well as a cap on losses. The salary cap is a bit weird as I think it is just a cap on what teams can do with the extra TV money they are going to get. You can still spend what you want of your commercial or gate receipts.

Yeah I believe it is quite different to the one the MLS has but I don't know the in-depth details.

oh and 12 points clear.

Lets not fuck it up!

I think he learned from last season because that was a strong side before a champions league game.

[MickeyG]

It will be interesting to see what side Fergie picks for Monday, as he must be fancying a try at the double or treble now this season.

[pieceofme]

It will be interesting to see what side Fergie picks for Monday, as he must be fancying a try at the double or treble now this season.

It's home against Reading so it will be a solid team but not the strongest.

The Premier League and Champions League are higher priorities for Ferguson. Even if we get past Real (Personally I see a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford) I don't think we have the balanced side compared to other top European sides. Although saying that, Chelsea did win it last season.

[Rageman]

The many faces of Andrea Pirlo

[Rageman]

Look what you damn English did to poor Robbie Rogers. A little over a year in your country and you went and turned him all gay. Probably because he had to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Lot of guts to come out. Do you think he'll ever come back and play? He was always on the cusp of the US team, being one of the final cuts in camp for South Africa 2010. Injuries really set him back in his attempt to get first team minutes at Leeds. Really took his speed away which was what made him so dangerous.

A couple of funny posts . . .

Rogers' MLS rights were traded from his old club to the Chicago Fire. After Rogers' announcement, one Fire fan said "The lengths people will go to, to not play in Chicago"

And probably my favorite

I thought all midfielders were gay?

signed Central Defender

[shocked_the_monkey]

Look what you damn English did to poor Robbie Rogers. A little over a year in your country and you went and turned him all gay. Probably because he had to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Lot of guts to come out. Do you think he'll ever come back and play? He was always on the cusp of the US team, being one of the final cuts in camp for South Africa 2010. Injuries really set him back in his attempt to get first team minutes at Leeds. Really took away his speed away which was what made him so dangerous. r

It says a lot that he waited until he retired before coming out. Not about him, that's his business, but about the treatment he'd get from the fans.

[Rageman]

Look what you damn English did to poor Robbie Rogers. A little over a year in your country and you went and turned him all gay. Probably because he had to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Lot of guts to come out. Do you think he'll ever come back and play? He was always on the cusp of the US team, being one of the final cuts in camp for South Africa 2010. Injuries really set him back in his attempt to get first team minutes at Leeds. Really took away his speed which was what made him so dangerous.

It says a lot that he waited until he retired before coming out. Not about him, that's his business, but about the treatment he'd get from the fans.

Dude, he didn't wait to retire, he's only 25 . . . he made his announcement and then said he was "stepping away from football"

He was later awestruck as to the responses and feedback of fans tweeting something like "Thanks for the love and support . . . wasn't expecting this"

No, I don't have twitter. Just try going to a footy website and NOT see Robbie Rogers articles or comments.

[shocked_the_monkey]

He retired from football, as in he's not playing anymore, that's what it's called here.

Trust me, if he was still playing for Leeds Utd, he would not have announced he was gay.

[Rageman]

You're right. But getting let go by Leeds does not mean retirement unless Leeds is considered so bad that if you can't make their squad you must give up the game. He played the bulk of his career in MLS and Chicago traded for his rights and wanted to sign him. He could have kept playing if he wanted.

I do think he'll come back because he's getting a lot more support than he thought he would. I read on one website where a writer wrote something like "Robbie Rogers' announcement taught us all something. I've learned that this is a far more mature and forgiving planet now than it was nine hours ago"