OT: Boneyard "Other Football" World Cup Thread

[meyers7]

But why is this? Do you think players really care if they are playing in a brand new stadium versus one that is still good? If the stadium was falling apart that's one thing (not sure the status of WH Lane) but to me, players care about the money they get in their contracts. If anything, building a new stadium puts a financial burden on the team and causes them not to be able to pay out for higher priced players. I believe meyers7 was saying earlier that Arsenal is just now getting out from under the debt caused by building their new stadium. Why do that? If you wanna keep up with the Chelsea's and Manchester clubs, spend in the transfer window and get a competent manager.

MONEY. That's why. We've I think almost doubled our gate. (with more seats, can raise prices - which we certainly did, new/more luxury boxes). Now that we're on the other side of the building, we can compete financially, at least much better. Again if they actually enforce FairPlay.

We don't have the brand name to compete commercially with ManU, Real, Barcelona. They sell a lot more jerseys than we do. So we have to at least be comparable on the match day income. (which we are now)

 

[UCFBfan]

MONEY. That's why. We've I think almost doubled our gate. (with more seats, can raise prices - which we certainly did, new/more luxury boxes). Now that we're on the other side of the building, we can compete financially, at least much better. Again if they actually enforce FairPlay.

We don't have the brand name to compete commercially with ManU, Real, Barcelona. They sell a lot more jerseys than we do. So we have to at least be comparable on the match day income. (which we are now)

Yeah I guess that makes sense. Would you say that Arsenal is the third most popular team in the Premier league worldwide? I'd say that it's ManU, Chelsea, and then Arsenal (maybe Liverpool). Even though Man City has had recent success, you rarely hear about them here in the US. I'm surprised that thy don't have a bigger deal for things like uniform deals.

 

[meyers7]

Yeah I guess that makes sense. Would you say that Arsenal is the third most popular team in the Premier league worldwide? I'd say that it's ManU, Chelsea, and then Arsenal (maybe Liverpool). Even though Man City has had recent success, you rarely hear about them here in the US. I'm surprised that thy don't have a bigger deal for things like uniform deals.

Worldwide, definitely. Arsenal has been on Asian tours (Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Hong Kong) the past few years for preseason. While ManU, Chelsea, etc were here in the states. They have a huge following in that area, lots of uniform sales and fans there.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Yeah I guess that makes sense. Would you say that Arsenal is the third most popular team in the Premier league worldwide? I'd say that it's ManU, Chelsea, and then Arsenal (maybe Liverpool). Even though Man City has had recent success, you rarely hear about them here in the US. I'm surprised that thy don't have a bigger deal for things like uniform deals.

Depends how one defines popular. Just about every list has Man U at the top (usually behind Real Madrid just ahead of or behind Barcelona globally) as the most popular English team.

Value in terms of brand and revenue usually result in Arsenal being second due to their consistency over the last 20/30 years versus Chelsea and Liverpool, who had some ups and downs.

Based on current revenue, Man U is of course #1 in England (Barcelona and now Bayern Munich are ahead of them globally) followed by Man City, Chelsea and then Arsenal. Liverpool and Tottenham are few steps back. On a related note, based on revenue, Paris SG was not even ranked in the Top 30 as recent as 2011/2 and then jumped to #5 in 2012/3 (that has to be a record climb in 1 year) just behind Man U in 2012/13. Talking about buying championships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deloitte_Football_Money_League#2012.E2.80.9313

I even saw a ranking of popularity by Twitter that has Man U #1 (#2 world behind Real Madrid) then Chelsea, which shows their recent rise in profile.

 

[ZooCougar]

Man U are like the Yankees. Ick.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Man U are like the Yankees. Ick.

Far worse, someone could be a Liverpool supporter and be owned by his Bosox.

 

[spsct]

Man U are like the Yankees. Ick.

I would say the top 4-5 teams in Europe are like the Yankees, and then it trickles down. That what sucks about being a fan of a middling team with a breakout star; you know it's just a matter of time before he's gone.

 

[Waquoit]

Far worse, someone could be a Liverpool supporter and be owned by his Bosox.

How is that far worse? If you don't like winning I guess.

 

[ZooCougar]

As much as I hate baseball, I hate the Red Sox more and any other Boston team for that matter. So Liverpool is the team I will choose to hate.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

How can you hate Liverpool? Look at that logo. It's majestic. And Steven Gerrard is one of the most likable soccer players ever. And now Suarez is gone!

 

[SAMCRO]

And Steven Gerrard is one of the most likable soccer players ever.

I will give you this. I am a fan of Gerard. Amazing story, especially his personal connection and loss at the Hillsborouogh Disaster. He was destined to be a star for Liverpool and England. And losing Suarez does make them a little less unlikeable.

 

[ZooCougar]

How can you hate Liverpool? Look at that logo. It's majestic. And Steven Gerrard is one of the most likable soccer players ever. And now Suarez is gone!

The taint of the Red Sox. The hell with that.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I would say the top 4-5 teams in Europe are like the Yankees, and then it trickles down. That what sucks about being a fan of a middling team with a breakout star; you know it's just a matter of time before he's gone.

One difference is that the Yankees value and spending have gradually built-up over time. There is no American sports team that I can think of off the top of my head (the LA Dodgers are close; but that had more to do with the legal issues surrounding McCourt’s divorce that tied-up their assets before the sale) where a new owner jumps into the league and literally pours in hundreds of millions off the bat for a new stadium, new players, etc. all to win titles like we have seen with Abramovich with Chelsea, Sheikh Mansour with Man City or Qatar with Paris SG. It’s nuts.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

How can you hate Liverpool? Look at that logo. It's majestic. And Steven Gerrard is one of the most likable soccer players ever. And now Suarez is gone!

Sorry, they are owned by the Red Sox, which makes them the enemy in my book and after being forced to listen to the Beatles for over 10 year of my life with no other options due to my Mom, I just have issues with Liverpool the city in general. Fortunately, after abstaining from the Beatles for years, I can finally accept that their music is not bad. Speaking of which, according to the Guardian Ringo was a Gunners fan while Paul liked Everton.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Worldwide, definitely. Arsenal has been on Asian tours (Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Hong Kong) the past few years for preseason. While ManU, Chelsea, etc were here in the states. They have a huge following in that area, lots of uniform sales and fans there.

Good news, Arsenal appears to be on the brink of signing a transfer deal for Khedira (Germany) from Real Madrid. I have high hopes for 2014 is this team can gel.

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...-for-sami-khedira/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

 

[UConnDan97]

How can you hate Liverpool? Look at that logo. It's majestic. And Steven Gerrard is one of the most likable soccer players ever. And now Suarez is gone!

This is how I can hate them, and I have hated them ever since:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster

Screw Liverpool!

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Not sure how unbiased this is; but, good to see US Soccer getting some good PR. The anti-US comments are, uh, interesting, at the bottom. I also agree that France is a rising team; but, I am not convinced that the Netherlands are rising or did they peak for the 2014 Cup. Without question, Brazil, Italy, and Spain have a lot of questions to ask. Portugal apparently isn’t even worth discussing. Colombia should be noted as a rising team along with Belgium. It will be interesting to see if Mexico has turned things around after the mess they were during CONCANAF qualifying and if Costa Rica’s advance was a fluke or a sign of things to come.


http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...cup-sides-are-heading-in-opposite-directions/

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

This is how I can hate them, and I have hated them ever since:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster

Screw Liverpool!

Seems unfair to blame the current club for something a bunch of fans did 30 years ago. I really hope we aren't all judged by the worst elements of our fandom. I've seen UConn fans do and say some pretty terrible things but I do not hold the University of Connecticut accountable.

 

[meyers7]

Good news, Arsenal appears to be on the brink of signing a transfer deal for Khedira (Germany) from Real Madrid. I have high hopes for 2014 is this team can gel.

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...-for-sami-khedira/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Yea, I've been seeing rumors of that for about a week. It's talked about on all the Arsenal sites. Nothing official yet though, so I won't get my hopes up. (ok, my hopes are up a little ) I'd love to have him at Arsenal. Have liked Khedira and Õzil since 2010 WC. And I believe they are pretty good friends too.

Supposedly we are also close to signing Debuchey from Newcastle to replace Sagna at RB. Also there is talk of getting Colombia's GK Ospina. We also might need a B/U CB. Lot's to do this summer. We'll see if Wenger and Gazidis can get it done. A least we got rid of the deadwood (Bendtner, Park, along with all the guys we dumped last year - really opened up some salary space)

 

[meyers7]

This is how I can hate them, and I have hated them ever since:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster

Screw Liverpool!

Seems unfair to blame the current club for something a bunch of fans did 30 years ago.

I think they paid for it. In spades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster

 

[meyers7]

How can you hate Liverpool? Look at that logo. It's majestic. And Steven Gerrard is one of the most likable soccer players ever. And now Suarez is gone!

Well that certainly helps. I don't mind Liverpool that much. Of course they haven't really given any reason to not like them the past few years (no real threat), til last year. Still better than Tottenham, Chelsea, ManU/City, Stoke. (that's probably the order I dislike teams in)

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Looks like the crazy money is really going to fly as Real Madrid is looking to buy James Rodriguez (Colombia) from Monaco (France) to replace Angel di Maria, who appears destined for Paris SG becasue the Red Devils can't offer him a spot in the Champions League this season. Plus, it looks like Barcelona, fresh after securing Jaws from Liverpool, is about the enter the mix, too.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/barcelona-challenge-real-madrid-90m-james-rodriguez-4030827

Oh, and Real looks to be getting Toni Kroos (Germany) from Bayern Munich for a nice chunk of change, € 25 million, after winning a bidding war with Man U. If Man U loses out on both Kroos and di Maria, does not look good for them. So sad, I am almost shedding a tear.

 

[UCFBfan]

Supposedly we are also close to signing Debuchey from Newcastle to replace Sagna at RB.

I think this will be one of the better pick ups by Arsenal this summer. He was great at Newcastle and can be more of an offensive defender. He would be a great get for Arsenal.

 

[SAMCRO]

Well that certainly helps. I don't mind Liverpool that much. Of course they haven't really given any reason to not like them the past few years (no real threat), til last year. Still better than Tottenham, Chelsea, ManU/City, Stoke. (that's probably the order I dislike teams in)

Ya, things b/w Stoke and Arsenal have heated up a bit the past couple years. The LOVE Ramsey at the Britania.

 

[meyers7]

I think this will be one of the better pick ups by Arsenal this summer. He was great at Newcastle and can be more of an offensive defender. He would be a great get for Arsenal.

I hope so. I don't think Jenkinson is ready to step in. Not sure he will ever be.

Oh, and Real looks to be getting Toni Kroos (Germany) from Bayern Munich for a nice chunk of change, € 25 million, after winning a bidding war with Man U. If Man U loses out on both Kroos and di Maria, does not look good for them. So sad, I am almost shedding a tear.

I hope so, that helps free up Khedira to move to Arsenal.