Soccer really sucks, doesn't it?

[Asher]

Those Italian soccer player clearly have some upper body strength. Sprinters don't use their upper body for anything but are strong there. I'm sure soccer players still do pullups, presses, cleans, etc. as part of their off-season strength training regardless of the direct applications.

Yes, they're certainly fit but I see it more as being fit rather than actually having upper body strength you'd expect out of a professional athlete. More toned with definition more than anything else.

[flipside]

i said same or better. and you didnt exactly pick random highlights like you try to make it out.

If you were interested in technical quality of football as much as endeavour, you would hold a very different opinion.
Compared to the average Arsenal game, the quality of passing, technique and invention is low at the WC in general.
Most national sides would struggle reach the cl quarter finals or break into the top 4 in England.

Spurs would beat most national teams.

[duke o' york]

No, Spurs would probably beat Argentina and then lose to India and Liechtenstein.

I think the glorification of the European Cup stinks. If I was a player then I'd rather win the national league, cup and the World Cup than win the Champions League, especially since it has admitted those clubs who aren't the Champions. It has just become a money-making exercise, nothing more than that. If it was really a competition between the best teams in Europe, then surely only the best teams in each European country should be allowed to compete. If you finish second in the league (or lower) then you are not among the best teams, simple as that. Only the best franchises in the NFL make it to the playoffs, regardless of how good their divisions are.

[Drake Tungsten]

Good lord, that "foul" Kaká just got sent off for was the pussiest **** I've ever seen. What a god awful sport.

[Cort Haus]

Yet Drake still watches

[Drake Tungsten]

I didn't watch most of it. I just flipped over to see the score while the show I was watching was on commercial. I doubt I'll even do that much, in the future; this ****ty sport isn't worth even the smallest amount of my time.

[KrazyHorse]

It was on in the bar I was just in. Pull that **** in hockey and see what happens to you your next shift.

[Drake Tungsten]

You can spear a quarterback in the back in football and they won't throw you out of the game. In soccer, however, if a guy runs into your elbow and then flops around like a *****, you get sent off. It's ****ing pathetic...

[KrazyHorse]

Football
Hockey

[KrazyHorse]

Football
Hockey

[Cort Haus]

I think the glorification of the European Cup stinks. If I was a player then I'd rather win the national league, cup and the World Cup than win the Champions League, especially since it has admitted those clubs who aren't the Champions. It has just become a money-making exercise, nothing more than that. If it was really a competition between the best teams in Europe, then surely only the best teams in each European country should be allowed to compete. If you finish second in the league (or lower) then you are not among the best teams, simple as that. Only the best franchises in the NFL make it to the playoffs, regardless of how good their divisions are.

No, that would make a poor tournament. The problem with the CL is the name, not the quality of entrants. It should still be called the European Cup, and understood to be a contest between the best club teams in Europe. Admittedly, when they let dross like Newcastle United in, the tone of the contest was lowered somewhat.

Seriously though, a contest stuffed full of the champions of Moldova, Lichenstein and Andorra at the expense of most of the best sides would be rubbish. Coming second in Spain or Germany doesn't make you worse than coming first in Norway. The top five leagues have the majority of the top clubs in Europe, and the current CL reflects that. The old format European Cup only had a handful of top sides and was too easy to win. As Brian Clough said, the hardest thing about winning the European Cup was winning the English League.

I understand your point about the money, but like it or not, that's how it works now. Coming third in the Premier League and qualifying for the CL is probably more important than winning the FA Cup now. Most fans couldn't admit that, but in terms of financial survival at the top end, it's probably true. Think of the FA Cup final the other year between Portsmouth and Cardiff, and look where those clubs are now. One practically fecked out of existance and the other with big problems.

On your last sentence, I got as far as the word 'franchise' and my eyes stopped working.

[Cort Haus]

You can spear a quarterback in the back in football and they won't throw you out of the game. In soccer, however, if a guy runs into your elbow and then flops around like a *****, you get sent off. It's ****ing pathetic...

Keita's dive to get Kaka sent off was a ****ing disgrace. No-one wants to see that, and no-one wants it in the game (except the cheats). Keita should be banned for three games.

[Drake Tungsten]

No-one wants to see that, and no-one wants it in the game (except the cheats).

Bull****; if enough people really wanted crap like that out of the game, it would've been stopped years ago. No, you're all really just a bunch of pussies who enjoy watching weak **** like that and then wonder why North Americans don't like your pathetic sport.

[VetLegion]

I love this one, sorry if it was posted, didn't read the entire thread

[Asher]