Essential The Official Football (Soccer) Thread - We are SO back, the Premier League returns!

[beejus]

bruce arena just put out another trash ass squad for the qualifiers

Its too comical at this point to be pissed

Oh I'm pissed. Gonna be at the Panama game. Can't wait to see the likes of Wondo, Tim Ream, Zardes, Zusi and the other MLS players. Bruce is trolling everyone right now.

Leave almost all your best players playing overseas but Pulisic home for your federations biggest games of the year.

 

[THEREALBRAND]

Bartomeu was ready to sacrifice 6 points over bullshyt politics
Thank god we ended up playing and winning.

He wanted the game cancelled off for public safety, and it should have been. There was violence in the streets, hundreds of people were injured, people were planning to storm the field as a sign of protest, and no adequate security presence would have been available to secure the stadium.

Spanish FA is a joke for making Barça play that game given the surrounding circumstances.

 

[The Eliminator]

He wanted the game cancelled off for public safety, and it should have been. There was violence in the streets, hundreds of people were injured, people were planning to storm the field as a sign of protest, and no adequate security presence would have been available to secure the stadium.

Spanish FA is a joke for making Barça play that game given the surrounding circumstances.

I get your point,but the game couldn't have been rescheduled earlier?? It was known that the referendum was taking place and the date was known too

 

[THEREALBRAND]

I get your point,but the game couldn't have been rescheduled earlier?? It was known that the referendum was taking place and the date was known too

It was an "illegal" referendum according to the Spanish government, and La Liga is Spanish administrated. So they were instructed to ignore it.

The 6 point deduction was just a way of the "good ol boys" in Madrid to stick it to Barça. If RM was in a similar position the game would have been postponed with no penalty.

 

[THEREALBRAND]

Gerard Pique in tears at violent clashes in Barcelona over Catalonian independence referendum... and admits he could stop playing for Spain


Barcelona's Gerard Pique was reduced to tears by the images of police brutality against people trying to vote in a referendum in Catalonia on Sunday.

The region's mayor said over 460 people were injured when riot police stopped people accessing polling stations in the referendum declared illegal by Spain's ruling Partido Popular.

And Pique said playing in an empty Nou Camp after the club decided to play behind closed doors was the worst experience of his career.

Filling up with tears in front of reporters he said: 'There was no act of aggression from the people today and yet the police have acted in the way that they have acted today.'

Barcelona asked for the game to be called off but they were told they would forfeit the points and be given a further three point deduction and so they decided to play without supporters in protest.

'It was very difficult to play without our supporters and after all that has happened throughout Catalonia. It was my worse experience as a player,' Pique said.

'Grandparents have gone with their grandchildren today and have tried to vote and the images speak for themselves.

'All the protests have been non-violent but everyone has seen the way police reacted today and I think there will be consequences.'

Pique would not confirm he was one of the voices in the dressing room that wanted to the game to be postponed. He said: ' There were arguments to play the game today just as there were arguments to not play the game.

'In the end the league and Las Palmas wanted to play the game. There were all sorts of opinions and in the end the club made the decision to play the game.'

Asked if he would have played the game had it been his decision, he added: 'My opinion doesn't matter very much. Lots of players expressed an opinion before the game. The club decided to play and we united behind that decision.

'But I understand perfectly why a lot of the supporters will think that the team should not have played this game today.'

Pique has been accused of being contradictory by backing the referendum while playing for Spain who he joins up with this week for international duty.

But he said: 'Well backing the referendum, you can then vote yes or not [for independence]. Or you can spoil your paper but you vote.

'During many years people could not vote here and this is a right that should be defended by all means within the law possible. I am Catalan and I feel Catalan and today more than ever I feel proud of the Catalan people.

'I think I can keep playing for the Spain team because I think that there are many many people throughout the country that are completely against the acts we have seen today and who believe in the democracy.

Not a fan of Pique, but I respect how much he loves his people

 

[So UnThotful]

Oh I'm pissed. Gonna be at the Panama game. Can't wait to see the likes of Wondo, Tim Ream, Zardes, Zusi and the other MLS players. Bruce is trolling everyone right now.

Leave almost all your best players playing overseas but Pulisic home for your federations biggest games of the year.

This is like how the Lakers put Kobe with Kwame Brown and smush Parker and expected results

 

[Black Haven]

bruce arena just put out another trash ass squad for the qualifiers

Its too comical at this point to be pissed

Honestly we should just blow the whole thing up and start over on some rebuilding shyt from the top down.

 

[Majestic]

Not a fan of Pique, but I respect how much he loves his people

If Catalonia break away then i really think barca won't be allowed to play in la liga anymore.

 

[Frangala]

If Catalonia break away then i really think barca won't be allowed to play in la liga anymore.

They can come to the Prem

 

[e001]

They can come to the Prem

They are not flying from Barcelona to the UK every week, they'd probably go to Ligue 1, but the reality is they are going nowhere, Monaco didn't leave Ligue 1 before.

 

[Fenian]

If Catalonia break away then i really think barca won't be allowed to play in la liga anymore.

I think they will. Too much money at stake. The FA would find a way to let them stay.

 

[Black Magisterialness]

He wanted the game cancelled off for public safety, and it should have been. There was violence in the streets, hundreds of people were injured, people were planning to storm the field as a sign of protest, and no adequate security presence would have been available to secure the stadium.

Spanish FA is a joke for making Barça play that game given the surrounding circumstances.

La Liga is shyt for making putting them in the position to have to forfeit points. The shyt was just as dangerous for Las Palmas coming into the ground (of which their owners are idiots for making them sew Spanish flags on their kits).

Politics and Sports always intersect, but this was about the safety of players, fans and security. The game should not have been played.

I get your point,but the game couldn't have been rescheduled earlier?? It was known that the referendum was taking place and the date was known too

La Liga is a Spanish national organization. The FA basically used this as a platform to say "You ain't going no where." The fact the FA was willing to basically tank Barca's season over their concern for its staff and players shows me their political stance as well.

In a way, I hope they do secede just to say fukk Spain. The displays I saw yesterday were reminiscent of Ferguson. The police were beating up firefighters....like

If Catalonia break away then i really think barca won't be allowed to play in la liga anymore.

Way too much money involved. You really think La Liga wants to let go of El Clasico (at least) twice a year and let it be just a POSSIBLE UCL match? No way.
The only thing is La Liga's TV deal will need to be renegotiated. Because of Catalonia breaks away and the Prem says "Come on down", there's NO WAY La Liga can match the profit sharing from England's media money.

There's also no way they join Ligue 1. No where near the money of even Germany.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Around half of Spain's economy relies on the Catalans, that's why they don't want them breaking away.

 

[LinusCaldwell]

Has Kevin De Bruyne Already Became The Player We All Knew He Could Become?

 

[nahnah]

Has Emmanuel Eboue been on the Eddie Long vegan diet