Euro 2016

[SoupInNYC]

I'm not really sure why, but I always find myself rooting against England and France. This year, I'll be rooting against Italy because of their roster decisions (leaving Giovinco out is nuts, Pirlo maybe could have made it, but I'm not super upset about that decision).

I think I'll end up rooting for teams with MLS players on the rosters. So that gives us Ireland, Albania, Belgium, and I think that's it.

It would be nice to see some good performances from Ciman, Keane, and Gashi

 

[adam]

Adam Nemec for the golden boot! I'd get some sick pleasure out of the rediculousness of everything.

 

[Gene]

The Post chimes in: http://nypost.com/2016/06/08/five-teams-that-could-shock-by-winning-euro-2016/

 

[ferrarinycfc]

i give no italy no chance of winning it, so theyll probably make the final at least just to prove i know nothing.

 

[NYCFCfan]

I'm all in for Spain & Poland.

Though I'll be watching England and Belgium closely because of all the Spurs players.

 

[Davo15]

Allez les bleus ! Finally Giroud takes one. Enjoying a nice cold pastis and watching the match .

 

[Falastur]

Allez les bleus ! Finally Giroud takes one. Enjoying a nice cold pastis and watching the match .

Honestly thought that Giroud goal was a foul, if I'm honest with you.

 

[Davo15]

Payet too good for west ham

 

[mgarbowski]

Payet too good for west ham

Those old rules don't necessarily apply any more.
http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/sto...d-can-reject-20-million-from-leicester-060916
We live in a world where Watford can reject £20 million from Leicester

 

[LionNYC]

Those old rules don't necessarily apply any more.
We live in a world where Watford can reject £20 million from Leicester

Is there a bubble on transfer fees? The TV deals can go only be for so much money as there will be a point where they hit peak TV audiences.

 

[mgarbowski]

Is there a bubble on transfer fees? The TV deals can go only be for so much money as there will be a point where they hit peak TV audiences.

I think the primary issue is that teams 6-20 in the EPL have enough guaranteed income they no longer have to sell to meet budget or to ensure they have a cushion if they get relegated. I'm not sure how much this might increase fees. It could just mean fewer transfers, unless players insist on more must sell transfer clauses.

 

[Ulrich]

Is there a bubble on transfer fees? The TV deals can go only be for so much money as there will be a point where they hit peak TV audiences.

There can't be a bubble if the TV money comes in each year. There may be a plateau, but there's no bubble that will figuratively burst. Now if the TV money stops or drops, then we can discuss a bubble.

 

[Davo15]

Those old rules don't necessarily apply any more.
We live in a world where Watford can reject £20 million from Leicester

Well yes there's monster money in the EPL now. It's great for England bad for most of the rest of the world. Outside of barca , real, Bayern and PSG even big clubs with history and big followings from major cities in mainland Europe can't compete with relatively small EPL clubs/ markets for players .

 

[mgarbowski]

Well yes there's monster money in the EPL now. It's great for England bad for most of the rest of the world. Outside of barca , real, Bayern and PSG even big clubs with history and big followings from major cities in mainland Europe can't compete with relatively small EPL clubs/ markets for players .

It's always interesting when a fan of one of the Big 5 bemoans the increased wealth of the rest of the EPL -- purely out of concern for the rest of the world, of course.

 

[Davo15]

It's always interesting when a fan of one of the Big 5 bemoans the increased wealth of the rest of the EPL -- purely out of concern for the rest of the world, of course.

I'm part French and I've been to the Velodrome 4 times so Marseille are actually my number one team outside of the US, so that's actually where the bias comes in . I was actually quite pleased to see Leicester lift the EPL trophy but it's still jarring to me to see clubs like Marseille , Milan, Ajax etc lose players to the west ham, crystal palace etc's of the world

 

[mgarbowski]

I'm part French and I've been to the Velodrome 4 times so Marseille are actually my number one team outside of the US, so that's actually where the bias comes in . I was actually quite pleased to see Leicester lift the EPL trophy but it's still jarring to me to see clubs like Marseille , Milan, Ajax etc lose players to the west ham, crystal palace etc's of the world

Fair enough. I was only aware you support MC and in that light the posts look a bit different. But I still disagree.

The fate of the Dutch league was sealed back with the Bosman ruling. A country that size has been unable to compete with the big boys since then. West Ham and CRY are the least of their problems. Italy's problems are self-imposed. The French league is the real mystery to me. I do not know why nobody outside of PSG can compete -- but again -- the issues predate the new wealth of additional UK teams. I can't see the rationale for whinging about new wealth when the old wealth -- and not just from England -- has been raiding the talent of those leagues since the Bosman ruling in 1995.

England has simply figured out how to get more money out of TV than anyone else and then decided to spread it around more evenly than anyone else by an enormous margin. Good for them on both counts. Hell, the Championship Football League in England has more money than all but six top level European leagues. If the leagues in other countries found themselves with more cash they would probably just funnel it to 2-4 teams anyway. That's what they do now. In fact it's not even that many teams. All the money in Spain goes to 2 teams. (PS I'm very impressed with how well the other Spanish teams compete given that RM and Barcelona take all the money). In Germany even Dortmund can't keep it's best players from going to Munich; and France has the biggest drop between 1 team and the rest of the league than anywhere I've seen. I suppose they could change but nothing in their history or current operations suggests it.

 

[Davo15]

First off on topic Brave performance form Albania too bad there are no moral victories in a tourney .

It's complicated. In France I believe it's partly that taxes are extremely high. Marseille are currently up for sale with rumors of major Iranian investment not sure how I feel about that. Still have mixed feelings about big money Man City. It's all very complicated I don't like the Spanish model of Real/Barca hogging all the TV money at all either. I guess I just wish some of the continental leagues had better owners and better TV deals so England wasn't so dominant in the financial market. It was a gut reaction that it's jarring to see players go from hugely supported clubs from major cities to either relatively small English cities or traditionally small(ish) London neighborhood clubs.

 

[mgarbowski]

Adam Nemec played in the second half for Slovakia today against Wales. He had a chance to tie late with the score 2-1 and headed a very nice cross into the goalpost. Not particularly his fault, more that it was just one of those things. But man it just never seems to go right for him, does it? Meanwhile, Wales celebrates its first major tournament win in decades.

 

[Ulrich]

Adam Nemec played in the second half for Slovakia today against Wales. He had a chance to tie late with the score 2-1 and headed a very nice cross into the goalpost. Not particularly his fault, more that it was just one of those things. But man it just never seems to go right for him, does it? Meanwhile, Wales celebrates its first major tournament win in decades.

He's actually scored a number of goals for country - he really helped get them to the Euros.

 

[21Architect]

C'MON ENGLAND ONE TIME!!!!