Men's Soccer (Football) Thread [Archived] Soccer • Page 676

It's frightening to think that those guys are paid good money to be both stupid and xenophobic.

 

Merson is a dumb, stupid idiot and I've wanted to punch Thompson in the face for years. Also English coaches suck, and I could name 300 foreign teams that would appeal to coaches worldwide 10x more than a job at fucking HULL.

 

Also, Mauro Icardi is a phenomenal player. 2 more goals tonight, in the Milan derby no less. Loves scoring against Bonucci lmao

 

Three goals

 

I stand corrected!!! Just read that he had just 5 touches in the Milan penalty area, 3 goals
For those who haven't seen, this one was class:

 

Choirul Huda, an Indonesian goalkeeper passed away today after a collision on the pitch.

 

So you wouldn't choose coaching Bournemouth over Inter?!

What's even more staggering is that, at the time, Hull were an absolute mess. They sold most of their better players and looked ready for a complete meltdown. It wasn't just that he won so many games on the bounce in Greece, he had some crazy record of not losing at home with any team for years. You only had to do the most cursory glance at his Wiki page to see why Hull were giving him a crack.

 

People like Merson just seem to think English coaches can walk into PL jobs because they're English? There's never any talk of earning the right to manage a PL side - taking Bournemouth for example, Eddie Howe got them promoted, played good football along the way and has for the most part proven his ability to manage at the required PL level. Sean Dyche too I guess.

Bar them, I cannot recall another English manager who had the actual talent to keep a PL job that wasn't called Sam Allardyce. Paul Clement has his chance at Swansea atm but who knows how that will go, but he started his managerial career at Derby in the league below. It is not unreasonable for English managers to a) be asked to begin their careers managing at a lower level, and b) actual be somewhat successful at that level to prove they have what it takes to manage higher. Like literally any job ever.

The lack of POC managers is a far more pressing issue than the lack of English mangers in the PL.

 

It's an interesting point. I sort of wonder whether it's a case that the BAME crowd aren't being offered the work or whether there's some sort of earlier issue that they are being put off even trying in the first place. It's particularly strange when you consider the percentages of non-white players in the PL that more aren't turning up in the dugout, because it's not just managers who are primarily white, the numbers just in terms of qualified coaches are way out of step with the ethnic makeup of the playing staff.

 

Merson is genuinely paid just because he's a bit of an idiot. Like they roll around laughing for 20 minutes every time he pronounces a name wrong or mixes up a metaphor or something. Soccer Saturday is somewhat of a hate-watch because I tune in just to see what dumb shit they'll say.

 

POC managers also need to earn the right to manage at the top. It’s all well and good Paul Ince talking about the lack of opportunities for him, but he’s failed everywhere he’s gone. Same for Chris Powell.

 

It's not just an issue at the top though. Even at just coaching level, the representation is really disproportionate. You can sort of explain it away a bit when it comes to the very top, because when you're talking about the absolute best, the numbers of people involved are lower, so it's easier to see how it gets skewed. When you're talking about thousands of potential positions though, it looks much worse.

There's an article from the Guardian which is a year or two old, which points out that the PL (at the time) was 25% BAME and the British population was 14% BAME. Elite level coaches (unsure what level that would represent within a club hierarchy) were at a percentage described as significantly less (no number given, annoyingly). That does point towards there being a barrier somewhere along the way.

 

Apparently the USMNT are playing at Portugal in a friendly next month. Because that'll do so much for morale to face the second best player in the world in his home country.

 

Black managers: 'Thirty years before equality' - report

This is admittedly from 2015 but states that just 23 out of 552 elite coaching positions are held by black & minority ethnic people, and "There are six black managers at the 72 Football League clubs". There is a list of (fairly) prominent examples and it looks to me like all of them are learning their trade at lower-level clubs - quote from Michael Johnson saying he was out of work for 4 years before getting a job at Cardiff, despite being fully qualified. It unfortunately looks to be difficult for BAME coaches to get their foot in the door at any level so they aren't yet able to work their way up to the PL.

 

For those other Americans who have no idea what BAME stands for, it's "Black, Asian, minority ethnicities"

 

Ben Davies will miss the Real game tomorrow. But Rose has traveled with the team so maybe we see his return.

 

I would like to suggest just sending the U-17s with Pulisic to play this game after their current performance at the U17 World Cup.

 

Newcastle are up for sale. Time for a new nightmare.

 

Galatasaray/Fenerbahce, Boca/River Plate, and Celtic/Rangers are worse than both of them.

 

I missed the game on Saturday as I was with my girlfriend away for a weekend for a wedding of two of my uni friends that took place yesterday, who she's also very close with. We got to the hotel and as we were unpacking and getting ready to go get our last bits for the next day's events, she noticed we had the sports channels.
"Oh, look, Arsenal are on if you want to watch?"
I thought about it, but I think I was correct when I said, "No, it'll only ruin the evening."

 

this is great

 

Wales invited to take part in China Cup in March 2018

 

This Crew news is fucking me up

 

It's a shitty situation

 

Curious to see how Poch’s lines up the team today. Alli is serving the final game of his suspension. Davies is ill. And Rose is only fit enough for the bench.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he puts Aurier at LWB with Trippier at RWB (or vice versa) and our usual 3 CBs. If that’s the case Dier will be at CM with either Dembele or Winks. Son replaces Alli in the attack.