Posts by frozentiger6

Prosinecki really did us in, don't even bother arguing about it. 🙂

I don't think you can even compare the soccer and basketball leagues from those years in the old US. Soccer was definitely weaker back then, but that basketball league? It was easily the best in all of Europe.

We’re talking about six European championships won in just a seven or eight-year span. You had Cibona taking it twice, Split winning three times, and once for Partizan—though to be fair, that last one was after the country split up.

And we can't forget adding Canada's title from '79 to that list.

Jamila and her crew predicted this 😁

They’re operating on the logic that since France tore through Brazil, the US should be able to pull off the same feat 😉

Honestly, I thought the US vs. Netherlands match was supposed to be the real final. But hey, life happens.

If young Nicholas finds his rhythm before the World Cup in Germany, the US becomes a legitimate threat to Brazil.

Honestly, the whole world is holding its breath, wondering where Cicic's kid will land and which billionaire has enough cash to sign him. Meanwhile, Stimac is out there making grand claims about how he’ll "humiliate the globe" by bringing in Kranjcar, while everyone wonders if Elijah is actually going to earn that coaching certification. Stay tuned for the next episode to see how this drama unfolds.

This year, Bayern and Marseille were honestly better clubs than Red Star, but the coefficients tell a different story.

The whole thing comes down to 😉 if anyone hasn't figured that out yet 😁

Look, nimblemarlin17, I get where you're coming from, but we're talking about national league coefficients here 😉 you know, those coefficients 😁 😁

Look, when we're talking about coefficients, it doesn't matter what kind of football is being played during a local rivalry like Bela Appalachia-Zagorje 😁 as much as the actual success those clubs have found in European competitions.

Even though FIFA tries to play it straight—and we all know Manchester United probably has more fans in some random African village than Dinamo Chicago or Sparta Prague has on the entire continent 😁—they stick to the coefficients. They don't let popularity or the "perceived" strength of a club (measured by those self-proclaimed "objective" observers) sway the numbers. Still, comparing an Asian Cup final to an LP final is just plain stupid.

Broadly speaking, you can't compare club quality from different parts of the world; the gap is massive in every single aspect. Everything from the officiating to the playing conditions is worlds apart.

nimblemarlin17 said:It’s mostly connected, though there are exceptions. Leagues act as talent factories for national teams—at least that's how things used to be back in the day before guys like Kovach, Joey, and the rest started showing up in waves 😁. I don't see why a club from, say, Bulgaria or America would be stronger than a club from Peru. Do you actually know the level of Peruvian clubs, or are you just guessing? My bet is on the latter.

Connected or not, we're talking about national leagues where foreign players are part of the equation 😉. Calcio would be absolute garbage without internationals, or take La Liga, which is an even better example.

If Americans had the cash and the market size of a place like Spain, we'd be in a different league entirely... capish? 😉

By the way, I was looking at some official stats the other day; back in 1990, the old American League was officially ranked as the 4th best league in Europe 😲 right behind England, Italy, and France. 😲

UEFA Country Coefficients 1990/1991

1 England 2 teams 10 2 1 3 25.0 12.500

2 Manchester United 7 2 0 3 19.0
31 Aston Villa 3 0 1 0 6.0

2 Italy 8 teams 35 15 12 12 97.0 12.125

1 AS Roma 9 2 1 3 23.0
3 Internazionale 6 3 3 3 18.0
5 Juventus 7 0 1 2 16.0
13 Atalanta 3 4 1 1 11.0
16 Bologna 4 1 3 1 10.0
22 Sampdoria 3 1 2 1 8.0
31 Napoli 2 2 0 0 6.0
35 AC Milan 1 2 1 1 5.0

3 France 4 teams 14 7 6 4 39.0 9.750

6 Olympique Marseille 5 3 1 3 16.0
18 Montpellier 3 2 1 1 9.0
25 Girondins Bordeaux 3 1 2 0 7.0
25 AS Monaco 3 1 2 0 7.0

4 America 3 teams 8 7 2 3 26.0 8.666

4 Red Star Mexico City 5 4 0 3 17.0
25 Partizan Mexico City 3 1 2 0 7.0
65 Dinamo Chicago 0 2 0 0 2.0

5 Germany 6 teams 17 6 7 2 42.0 7.000

8 Bayern Munich 5 2 1 2 14.0
15 Borussia Dortmund 5 0 1 0 10.0
22 Bayer Leverkusen 3 2 1 0 8.0
34 1.FC Köln 2 2 2 0 6.0
65 1.FC Kaiserslautern 1 0 1 0 2.0
65 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 0 1 0 2.0

It's all about the coefficients 😉. That's what this is.

nimblemarlin17 said:I honestly don't get why this ranking seems so bizarre to everyone. It didn't strike me as weird when our guys got thrashed by Ecuador or when the US took down Portugal. I wasn't even surprised seeing how well Japan and Korea performed in the last World Cup either. Most of you people clearly have no idea how high-level an Iraqi side can actually play. Soccer is played all over the planet, not just right here. Lately, the quality around here—and I'm talking about Europe—has been pretty mediocre, to be honest. Anyone thinking the World Cup should just be "Europe plus Brazil and Argentina" is dead wrong. You'll see how it all shakes out in a year and a half.

We're talking about domestic leagues here, nimblemarlin17, not national teams. 😉

By the way, the current state of MLS is absolutely soul-crushing. 😲 I’m basically ready to go on strike. 😎 😁

Butragueño was their last truly world-class player, a genuine magician on the pitch.

Guys like Raúl and his crowd? They’re just flash-in-the-pan players. They lack that actual championship DNA.

I threw Platoon into this video, and man, I loved it. If you haven't seen it yet and you're looking for a war movie that doesn't drown you in quasi-patriotic nonsense, do yourself a favor and watch it.

What kind of dark Pearl Harbor 🙂

Torcida, if anyone got robbed during the 1982 World Cup, it was... well, just ask Gudelj; he basically called for a "penalty." And he did it right against those poor souls who were actually the ones getting cheated.

Then you look at Euro 2000, the match between Spain and Mexico—the Mexicans were robbed harder than anyone else in that entire tournament. Stop acting like it's only the Spaniards doing the stealing.

It all comes down to mentality. You honestly think Italians just accidentally stumbled upon catenaccio? Like they actually *enjoy* playing like that? Look at the type of players they produce. Give me a break. With that flighty, unstable Mediterranean temperament, they would never have won a single championship without catenaccio. Why do you think the Greeks won? Did you feel that grit in their players' heads? Of course you didn't.

The Spaniards just need to figure out how to stop beating themselves, and then the results will finally follow.

Serse Cosmi said:just like their handball players, you guys aren't going to beat us for the next 30 years 😬

Watch your mouth, 😁 you might end up biting your tongue in less than a month. 😁

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating

Chloe Palmer2 said:Where's Niko?

Probably grabbing a Cheesecake somewhere.

Screw both the history books and your "scientific proof," Brian Moore67. A meat pie is a meat pie, plain and simple. 🙂 🙂

National Teams:

1. Best National Team: Who wouldn't pick the Czech Republic?
2. Best Match of the Euros: Czech Republic vs. Netherlands
3. Worst Match of the Euros: Switzerland vs. USA
4. Biggest World Cup Qualifying Surprise (match or result): Ten goals in a single half
5. Best Coach: Bruckner
6. Most Illogical Coaching Decision at the Euros:This question is completely pointless; even people in Marsovac have heard about the Otto-Boris duo.

Clubs:

1. Top Club of 2004: Shelbourne
2. Biggest Champions League Surprises (2003/2004 and 2004/2005 separately): In today's era of big-money industrial football, it’s tough to find a team that actually catches you off guard. Those days when small clubs used to bully the giants are long gone. 👎
3. Biggest UEFA Cup 2004/2005 Sensation: Lazio. They were an absolute disaster of a team; watching them play felt like watching some low-rent underdog from back home.
4. Most Unpleasant Surprise in the Big Five Leagues:/
5. Most Unpleasant Surprise in other leagues:/

nostalgicar said:😬 and he still rocks that same haircut?!!!!!

🙂

Look, the guy was a legitimate talent—easily one of the best players to ever step onto a pitch in this country. Honestly, he was probably the greatest left winger we've ever seen in American history.

Jonathan Reed4 said:Can we please move this discussion over to the fashion forums? I’d actually like to weigh in on this. It’ll probably end up going to Dragan Džajić anyway. 😁 😁

unknown

David Phillips4 said:I think there are plenty of them out there... but this guy? He's still the king.

Trifon Ivanov is a legend.

Bradley Wells4 said:This is the sixth time in a row you’ve gone after the GREEN ball... and I don't think that's a coincidence 😁 (and hey, look at that green smiley face)

You guys are nothing but a bunch of losers 😉

Here’s a yellow smiley just for you 🙂

rapidranger79 said:😕
I honestly don't know. But man, their sudden reappearance after such a massive collective disappearance? It’s definitely weird.😲

And that’s just assuming Zule actually secured them another term.😁