Soccer Soccer Talk Thread

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4 minutes ago, H-Dreamer said:

35 and that was just a cup, 39 for the league and they don't even play Bundesliga anymore, so yh not holding my breath. lol

No that was MY local club. Lillestrøm SK. They play Tippeligaen in Norway.

 

Have there been any german clubs doing the failed parachute aswell? 

[H-Dreamer]

7 minutes ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

No that was MY local club. Lillestrøm SK. They play Tippeligaen in Norway.

 

Have there been any german clubs doing the failed parachute aswell? 

I got that, I just was placing mine in comparison.

 

Not that I remember, but I don't pay close attention to pre-game antics of other clubs. Was a bigger thing in the 90s anyway I think.

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Just now, H-Dreamer said:

I got that, I just was placing mine in comparison.

 

Not that I remember, but I don't pay close attention to pre-game antics of other clubs. Was a bigger thing in the 90s anyway I think.

Ooh okey. Yeah that feels bad.

 

I've still not witnessed my team win the league (last was in '89 before I was born), but they've been impressive in the Cup. I've seen 3 cup finals live, one OT loss in '05, I remember crying like a kid (because I was a kid) after that game. Two years later we got revenge and won the cup in '07, but the one I remember the most was the win in '17. That was an awesome game. My voice was totally gone the following week lol. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTgO0dDGGEg&t=144s).

 

[H-Dreamer]

13 minutes ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

Ooh okey. Yeah that feels bad.

 

I've still not witnessed my team win the league (last was in '89 before I was born), but they've been impressive in the Cup. I've seen 3 cup finals live, one OT loss in '05, I remember crying like a kid (because I was a kid) after that game. Two years later we got revenge and won the cup in '07, but the one I remember the most was the win in '17. That was an awesome game. My voice was totally gone the following week lol. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTgO0dDGGEg&t=144s).

 

Best I've got it semi-finals. Twice for the Cup and twice for Europa League, everything they ever won was before I was old enough to care, though I have a vague memory of my Dad taking us to Town Hall for their last title in 1987, but that really doesn't count.

League they had a couple of 3rd place finishes at best.

They won a Liga Cup in 2004 or so, but that was a small tournament of glorifed friendlys so no one cares about that one.

 

And their last great year also broke the Clubs back. Imagine your biggest Rival, now imagine playing them 4-times in 9 days, in League, Cup-Semis AND Europa League-Semis and losing 3 out of 4, with the lone win being the first leg of the Europa-League-Semi and you lose the 2nd leg at home.

 

[Keirik]

I'm starting to think Manchester United losing yet again for the umpteenth time in the last decade is just the universe evening itself out for 25 years of success. 

 

It blows though lol 

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So Roman's attempt to sell Chelsea has been stopped and his assets have now been frozen. No idea how the club will be able to run now. They can't use money or even earn money. They can't sell players, tickets, jerseys or other merch and will probably be bankrupt in a few weeks/months.

 

lol

[Cash or Czech]

Makes sense why he wanted the charity side to take over day to day operations and 'handling' of the club. Really sucks for Chelsea fans right now. At least season ticket holders still have access to the games.

 

But they're screwed on transfers. Rudiger, Azpilicueta, and Christensen are all out of contract at the end of the season. Both Christensen and Azpi are heavily rumored to be heading to Barcelona, but Rudiger was a toss up. This essentially seals his fate as leaving as well. Could end up at Bayern, Real Madrid, or even PSG I believe was rumored. That leaves the only senior center backs for next season as 22 year old Trevor Chalobah, an almost 38-year old Tiago Silva, and then Ethan Ampadu and Matt Miazga back from loan, neither of which are Chelsea levels of quality. 

 

Really tough spot, and I do actually feel for Chelsea fans right now. Plus the distractions with Lukaku, it's a complete mess.

[Blue Heaven]

Ooof, Woody Johnson is a little to late to buy the team

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It's not like outside noise is anything new to Chelsea FC, especially noise created by Roman, but this is the worst situation the club has been in since Gates bought the club early 80's.

 

As you mentioned - Christensen, Rudiger and Azpi are lost cases now. Not that anyone care, but Saul is also a goner. The real problem however is we're not able to sell players. We have ALOT of players on the payroll that usually gets loaned out. Now we won't be able to loan them out to get rid of the salary costs and we won't be able to sell them. We're stuck with a way too big squad with players like Miazga, Kenedy, Barkley, Drinkwater etc. We're doomed next season, both on and off the field.

 

Short-term we won't even be able to have the Club shop open. Not a single pound will come into the club for possibly months, that will ruin any big football club. Especially one that has been reliant on their owner for 20 years.

 

It's just ridiculous. This will impact A LOT of people around the world. From players, staff, journalists, fans etc. One person it will for sure not impact is Putin. Roman is not even making money on the Club, so it makes no sense.

 

Under the Covid pandemic while Arsenal's greedy owners fired employers, Roman said none of his employers would be effected economically from the pandemic. He also opened his hotel FOR FREE for NHS members (https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/13681937/chelsea-stamford-bridge-hotel-free-nhs-abramovich/). I'm not saying he's a saint, but ruining the club over this is not okay. And Im struggling to see how this is even legally allowed(?).

[Cash or Czech]

I read somewhere that if Chelsea enter administration due to lack of funds, they'd be docked 9 points in the table. On their current pace, that'd leave them at 69 points. That would leave them behind Man City (94), Liverpool (87), and Arsenal (73), but ahead of ManU (64), West Ham (61), and Spurs (66). If they lose out on Champions League, it'll be even more of a financial disaster. And again, I don't agree with any of this because of how it impacts the fans. The club and fans did nothing wrong. I am unsure of what financial ties Abramovich has to Putin and Russia, so I am not sure if this is justified sanction either. 

 

I understand why he tried to distance himself from the club, but realistically this was bound to happen. You can't make a 3 billion pound transaction in a couple weeks. Hopefully Chelsea fans turn their hatred towards Putin and Russia, since he pretty much caused all of this. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Cash or Czech

[Cash or Czech]

https://theathletic.com/3165602/2022/03/10/abramovich-chelsea-sanctioned-what-does-that-mean/

 

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Abramovich is one of seven oligarchs sanctioned.

 

He had been identified by the UK government as a “pro-Kremlin oligarch”. The updated Consolidated List of financial sanctions targets cited him as having had “a close relationship (with Vladimir Putin) for decades”, something the oligarch has always been at pains to deny. Abramovich had apparently received “preferential treatment from and concessions from Putin and the government of Russia”. All his UK-based assets had been frozen, including the football club he had bankrolled to two Champions League wins, five Premier League titles and, less than a month ago, a Club World Cup across almost 19 years of ownership.

 

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4.4. Reasonable costs of travel to and from Fixtures (or for the purposes of training or practice) by any of the Club teams for players and essential staff (including the reasonable cost of any travel company making such arrangements and necessary security staff or contractors) not exceeding the value of £20,000 per game per Club team.

 

This is where the practicalities of the sanctions properly kick in.

The £20,000 limit would presumably prevent Chelsea flying to, or staying overnight at, any of their remaining away games in the Premier League, unless those trips have been paid for in advance. To put that into some context, a return trip by private jet for domestic travel for a party of around 50 people might normally cost around double that amount.

 

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It seems likely that the costs for next week’s trip to Lille, in northern France, for the second leg of their last 16 tie have already been paid, meaning the team can fly out and stay in their pre-booked hotel. But should they overcome the Ligue 1 champions – and they are 2-0 up from the first leg – and are then drawn against a non-English club in the quarter-finals, say in Munich, Madrid (Bayern and Real are already through to the last eight) or Turin, then would their trip fall within the £20,000 limit? Or would they need to take a radically-reduced staff, travel by coach rather than plane or even resort to commercial flights to and from their destination?

 

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6. Under this licence, subject to the conditions below: 6.1 Persons may pay to the Club payments to discharge existing obligations under player loan or sale arrangements. 6.2 Relevant bodies may pay to the Club revenue for broadcast licensing related to any Fixtures and any performance fee. 6.3 The Club may receive funds, which must be frozen, in accordance with paragraphs 5, 6.1 and 6.2 above. 6.4 Broadcasters may broadcast any Fixtures involving the Club.

 

Money owed to Chelsea, who sold almost £100 million worth of talent last summer and will also be due loan fees on players farmed out, can still be received. Likewise, they will still be due broadcasting revenues. The team’s games can still be televised. However, the licence stipulates that any money coming into the club via those sources would be frozen. The inference of that is that the club, as of now, must function day to day on their current cash reserves rather than rely on any influx of transfer or broadcasting revenue due.

 

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So the club can sell existing merchandise stock from their club shops or online, but cannot then restock to maintain supplies. Again, any money raised would be frozen rather than filtering back, through the club, to Abramovich.

 

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13 minutes ago, Cash or Czech said:

Hopefully Chelsea fans turn their hatred towards Putin and Russia, since he pretty much caused all of this. 

"Everyone" already hates Putin, this just makes people angry at the English govnmt.

 

I know they're after every Russian person in the country, but it wouldn't be very hard for them to say the sanctions goes for everything he owns except Chelsea and let him sell the club. Or at least let it run properly and refuse him to get involved or to sell (if they don't want him to get any money). He rarely (if ever) take out profits from the club, so it's not like this hurts Roman's purse (or Putin in any way what so ever).

 

This ONLY effects Chelsea employees and fans. It also effects charitable organizations etc that Chelsea support. This directly effect hundreds of englishmen, but does nothing to Putin. Is as dumb as it gets really.

 

And every day matters here, so the longer they take to fix this (and it will be long) the more fucked the club will be and there's no way to fix after the damage is done.

[Cash or Czech]

3 minutes ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

"Everyone" already hates Putin, this just makes people angry at the English govnmt.

 

I know they're after every Russian person in the country, but it wouldn't be very hard for them to say the sanctions goes for everything he owns except Chelsea and let him sell the club. Or at least let it run properly and refuse him to get involved or to sell (if they don't want him to get any money). He rarely (if ever) take out profits from the club, so it's not like this hurts Roman's purse (or Putin in any way what so ever).

 

This ONLY effects Chelsea employees and fans. It also effects charitable organizations etc that Chelsea support. This directly effect hundreds of englishmen, but does nothing to Putin. Is as dumb as it gets really.

 

And every day matters here, so the longer they take to fix this (and it will be long) the more fucked the club will be and there's no way to fix after the damage is done.

 

https://theathletic.com/3165602/2022/03/10/abramovich-chelsea-sanctioned-what-does-that-mean/

 

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The suggestion is he would still potentially be able to push through a sale — though he would have to prove that he will not benefit from any of the proceeds.

 

Given Abramovich has already indicated he intends to give all net proceeds of a sale of Chelsea to “the victims of the war in Ukraine”, that would suggest there is scope for a deal still to be secured with one of the interested parties.

 

Accounts would be closely monitored by government officials to ensure no breaches of the sanctions occur.

 

A spokesman for prime minister Boris Johnson said: “We would have to grant a further licence. I think it is fair to say the government is open to the sale of the club, but … currently, it would require another licence and that would require a further conversation with the Treasury (finance ministry).

 

“The principle has been to mitigate the impact on fans … these measures are designed to punish those close to Putin.”

 

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3 minutes ago, Cash or Czech said:

The suggestion is he would still potentially be able to push through a sale — though he would have to prove that he will not benefit from any of the proceeds.

I just can't understand how that's legally possible?

"Hey, we're taking your 3b asset and running it to ground unless you give us permission to sell it for you while you won't get any of the proceeds". There has to be some SERIOUS allegations towards him to justify that. "He's been close friends with Putin" or "one of his companies sells steel that Russia uses in their tanks" is not enough.

 

And why would we trust Boris and the government to sell to the best buyer available? They don't give a single fuck about the Club, so why would they be in charge for the biggest decision ever in the club's history?

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I don't have a Telegraph subscription and I definitely won't get it to read this click-bait article, but LOL

 

Sure, this is about Putin and Ukraine. Sending Chelsea to the Championship would really send a message to Mr Putin.

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Sponsors looking to get out of Chelsea as if the club was located in Moscow.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/chelsea-roman-abramovich-sanctioned-three-26433361

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Chelsea shirt sponsor Three reviewing £40m a year deal after Roman Abramovich sanctioned.

 

 

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That "review" didn't take long:

 

[Cash or Czech]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich#Vladimir_Putin

 

Sources are linked after each statement.

 

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Vladimir Putin

Abramovich was the first person to recommend to Yeltsin that Vladimir Putin be his successor as the Russian president.^[53]: 135 When Putin formed his first cabinet as Prime Minister in 1999, Abramovich interviewed each of the candidates for cabinet positions before they were approved.^[36]: 102 Subsequently, Abramovich would remain one of Putin's closest confidants. In 2007, Putin consulted in meetings with Abramovich on the question of who should be his successor as president; Medvedev was personally recommended by Abramovich.^{[53]: 135, 271}

 

Chris Hutchins, a biographer of Putin, described the relationship between the Russian president and Abramovich as like that between a father and a favourite son. Abramovich has said that when he addresses Putin he uses the Russian language's formal "вы" (like Spanish "usted" or German "Sie"), as opposed to the informal "ты" (like Spanish "tú" or German "du"). Abramovich says that the reason is 'he is more senior than me'.^[54] Within the Kremlin, Abramovich is referred to as "Mr A".^[55]

 

In September 2012, the England and Wales High Court judge Elizabeth Gloster claimed that Abramovich's influence on Putin was limited: "There was no evidential basis supporting the contention that Mr Abramovich was in a position to manipulate, or otherwise influence, President Putin, or officers in his administration, to exercise their powers in such a way as to enable Mr Abramovich to achieve his own commercial goals."^[56]

 

Gloster oversaw the case between Russian oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Abramovich. She found Berezovsky to be "an inherently unreliable witness" and sided with Abramovich in 2012. It later emerged that Gloster's stepson had been paid almost £500,000 to represent Abramovich as a barrister early in the case. Her stepson's involvement was alleged to be more than had been disclosed. Berezovsky stated, "Sometimes I have the impression that Putin himself wrote this judgment". Gloster declined to comment.^[57][58][59]

 

U.S. media reports that the U.S. intelligence community believes Abramovich is a "bag carrier", a financial middleman, for Putin.^[60]

Sanctions

Abramovich is one of many Russian "oligarchs" named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017.^[61] He is one of the Navalny 35.^[62]

 

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Abramovich and Chelsea F.C. were sanctioned. Abramovich had his UK assets frozen and a travel ban. The British government said the sanctions were in response to Abramovich's ties to the Kremlin and said the companies Abramovich controls could be producing steel used in tanks deployed offensively by Russia in Ukraine.^[63] Abramovich denies that he has close ties to Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin.^[7]

 

He's certainly not the only owner to do shady shit. He's just caught in the crossfire because his topic is now incredibly relevant. Never seen anything like this happen before. 

Edited March 10, 2022 by Cash or Czech

[Cash or Czech]

Watched the game in a pub for the first time. Makes me wish I lived in the city.

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This is insane!

 

One of the clubs biggest hero's and icon's, died in April 2020 during Covid so the club never got to have a memorial service for him. It was supposed to be this week, but now because of the ridiculous sanction's put on the club, fans will not be able to attend.

 

 

Isn't this peak hypocrisy?

[H-Dreamer]

It is, but what did you expect? Them to suddenly find the moral compass they didn't have for decades?

They also all will happily go to Qatar for the World Cup.

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13 hours ago, H-Dreamer said:

It is, but what did you expect? Them to suddenly find the moral compass they didn't have for decades?

They also all will happily go to Qatar for the World Cup.

But that's the weird thing. All of a sudden they found the moral compass, but only in regards to Abramovich. And with the sanctions they've put in place it impacts Chelsea fans a lot more than Roman and Putin.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2020/01/07/billionaire-roman-abramovich-still-pumping-money-into-chelsea-despite-losing-love-for-london/?sh=991f9311065e

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New accounts for the west London soccer giants released yesterday evening show that Chelsea is still dependent on the controversial oligarch’s fortune to compete at the top of the English Premier League.

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Kieran Maguire, from the University of Liverpool, an expert on football accountancy, describes Abramovich’s current relationship with Chelsea as “a strange one,” telling Forbes that clearly from the accounts released today “the club itself is not generating sufficient revenues” to cover the money needed for new players.

This was from 2020, but it's still true today. Roman doesn't make a single pound of the club, so sanctioning him and the club so he "can't fund Putin" is just so blatantly wrong and dumb. It makes no sense.

[LindG1000]

2 hours ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

But that's the weird thing. All of a sudden they found the moral compass, but only in regards to Abramovich. And with the sanctions they've put in place it impacts Chelsea fans a lot more than Roman and Putin.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2020/01/07/billionaire-roman-abramovich-still-pumping-money-into-chelsea-despite-losing-love-for-london/?sh=991f9311065e

This was from 2020, but it's still true today. Roman doesn't make a single pound of the club, so sanctioning him and the club so he "can't fund Putin" is just so blatantly wrong and dumb. It makes no sense.

I realize it's a bit double-standardy, but an obvious wartime aggressor on your home continent is far, far harder to bury in the sand than modern-day slavery in Qatar or human rights violations in Asia. 

 

Personally, if the UK decides that they do not want Abramovich doing business there because of his links to Putin, sure. Fine. Not a problem in my book. They've gone about it in a way that honestly puts Chelsea and the fans far more behind the 8 ball than Abramovich, and that's horseshit. 

[H-Dreamer]

tbh I am not a fan of the "club can't live or compete without a billionaire sugardaddy"-system. But that's a totally different matter.

 

I don't think they really found their compass, they just react to what they think people want.

[4EverRangerFrank]

Tonight's USMNT v. MEXICO match should be a screamer since both teams need a win. (Tyler Adams and Aaron Long are from my beloved Red Bulls/MLS squad although Adams is now with RB Leipzig.)

 

The U.S. Men’s National Team begins the final window of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, visiting archrival Mexico at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Thursday, March 24 at 10 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, TUDN, Univision).

 

The USMNT (6-2-3, 21 points) enter the March window in second place in the 2022 Concacaf Octagonal, just ahead of third-place Mexico (6-2-3, 21) by goal differential (+9 to +6).

 

USA v. MEX 5 Things to Know

Edited March 24, 2022 by 4EverRangerFrank