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Napoleon

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Everything posted by Napoleon

  1. Nigeria has a white girl playing for them. English born, English youth player, American college player, English professional, Nigerian international. Occasionally the fans chant “White Girl!” https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/nigeria-star-ashleigh-plumptre-turned-30637487
  2. England to be rewarded for a horrible dive… …or not. Absolutely should NOT be a PK. The ref makes the proper replay correction. If was pure bullshit.
  3. 20 minutes in, defending Euro champs are not looking up to snuff against a former colony. EDIT: Right as I switch the game on, a whiff by Nigeria’s CB leaves a ball for an English girl (striker?) to crack a hard low shot toward the bottom right corner that the Nigerian keeper makes a great save on. That was full blown regard right there.
  4. Napoleon

    MLS 2023

    Are you talking about the 18 year-old Argentine-American on Inter Miami who has gotten looks from the USA and Argentina? Or someone else? Because Cremenschi (sp?) isn’t definitely American.
  5. I wanted Sweden to win, but it wasn’t due to my penis feeling like it was shrinking due to girls not singing the anthem. I wanted them to lose because they have been given a head start in the women’s game like no other team other than the USA in basketball and yet they have chose to ignore the future and hold tightly onto their past. Much like the Big 3 U.S. automakers in the 1980s, they have chosen NOT to adapt until it was too late to remain on top. I have two passports and hope to get a third in the coming years. I have friends from most of the remain countries in the tournament. I don’t need anyone to sing shit for me to pull for them, I need them to them to exhibit skill and awareness and for their manager not to be a shit-for-brains. PS- I think that South Africa would have beaten the USWNT if we had won our group. They have skill, speed, and lots of fight.
  6. REMINDER: In the last 9 months, Haji Wright has more FIFA World Cup goals than Alex Morgan.
  7. Ow that the USA is out, let’s play: WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN? WHO DO YOU WANT TO WIN? THINK: Japan 🇯🇵 or maybe Colombia 🇨🇴 WANT: Spain 🇪🇸 (skill) or Sweden 🇸🇪 (looks) DARK HORSE: Jamaica 🇯🇲 (no racist) Jamaica can’t score for shit, but they have around 10 American brown girls who for some reason felt that their future was not with the USWNT and it would bring a smile to my face to see them at least finish Top 4… though I don’t see it.
  8. My thinking is that keeping Rapinoe, and to a lesser extent Morgan, in the squad has more to do with the federation and advertisers. It has to do with appeasing their base. Rapinoe told the manager that she’s there to fill whatever roll he needed and she wasn’t expecting to start or receive major minutes. Having Rapinoe’s backing was probably appealed to the manager and would help in the locker room and when he filled out the lineup card with stupid decision after stupid decision. It would help when he had the deepest bench in the tournament (probably) and like Berhalter, he refused to follow a smart substitution pattern that would keep players fresh and provide a spark. (The similarities in the glaring deficiencies of the two national team managers is comical.) The women don’t have nearly the skill or tactical awareness that they should have, but they are deep enough to have scored goals in regulation today, especially if Morgan isn’t playing. Apparently Smith and Rodman are strikers who were played out of position so that Morgan could go “0 for the tournament” from the #9 position. You think that the ball crossed the line by 2mm or more? In tennis, the margin of error is +/- 3mm, but everyone accepts the automated call. It is interesting that FOX News spends so much time & effort trying to destroy FOX Sports #1 female sport/sports team. Perhaps they have done studies showing that it drives viewers to both their news network AND their sports network. I’m fairly certain that CNN/TBS/TNT/CBS don’t employ this strategy not do Disney’s & NBC-Universal’s various news / sports platforms.
  9. If Morgan isn’t planning to retire, then someone needs to plan it for her.The old people need to be cleared from the team before next year’s Olympics Rapinoe played like what Roldán would have played like if he had made it into the World Cup. She never should have been on the team. Should could have been an assistant coach or player liaison, but never should have taken a roster spot, much less actually entered a game.
  10. The entire knockout round was arranged to fit the USA’s TV schedule. (Not an opinion, a reported fact.) The USA was/is the #1 ranked team in the world and they always win their group, so the winner of our group was to stay in New Zealand and play in PRIME TIME on Saturday night. Second place was going to go to Melbourne, which is 2 hours behind New Zealand, and play a late Sunday morning/early afternoon match. Planned US time: 7p PT/ 8p MT/ 9p CT/ 10p ET Planned Dutch start: 11a Instead: US start: 2am PT -> 5am ET Dutch start: 4am (as well as South Africa time) This was 100% due to the USWNT & coach sucking dysentery ass. The USA is far and away the biggest TV market for the Women’s World Cup, so an attempt was made to cater to the American viewers as much as possible. POST MATCH MUSIC: After Sweden 🇸🇪 won, the PA system at the stadium started playing Euro electronic music and I thought “That’s just the kind of music that the world listens to.” …then I looked up the song and laughed at the significance behind the song choice …
  11. He has to be a company guy who promised to pay ... (I always forget her name)... [one second] Alex Morgan (all I can think of is "Makeup" when I try to remember her name) at the World Cup. There is no excuse for how shitty he is. Winning is obviously NOT the #1 priority of U.S. Soccer. (Men's or Women's) Still, I want the bitches to be out skilled and lose. With each passing year, US women are going to fall further and further behind, because the youth coaches focus on size and speed at the youngest ages and skill doesn't mean shit to them, because they have to win now. Kind of funny that the women are going to where the men used to be and the men are trying to become more and more European.
  12. This explains why the USWNT sucks so much prison-level abused ass. The USWNT’s problems, explained Henry Bushnell Senior soccer reporter Wed, Aug 2, 2023, 11:19 AM CDT AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The U.S. national team’s descent from atop women’s soccer alarmed the American public Tuesday. It shellshocked players here at the 2023 World Cup, during and after a 0-0 draw with Portugal that took them to the brink of ignominy. But it did not begin Down Under. It has not been surprising or sudden. Worry amassed beneath the USWNT surface over the past 24 months, and especially the last 10. Fears have come to fruition here in New Zealand, but they’ve long existed within and beyond U.S. Soccer. The storm that nearly crashed ashore this week has been building for years, and its elements are plentiful. The following is an attempt to explain them. Who’s at fault for this USWNT decline? The USWNT’s problems are plentiful. They’re tactical and technical, systemic and fluky. But the 2023 team’s struggles largely owe to three high-level factors: 1. A defective youth pipeline isn’t producing the right type or quality of player. 2. Several of the top players it did produce are injured. 3. Their coach, Vlatko Andonovski, isn’t getting the best out of the healthy ones. So American players are getting worse? No — it’s just that players around the world are getting much better, and dozens of women’s national teams are improving at a much quicker rate than the USWNT. Why is that? The planet’s traditional soccer powers — like, say, the Netherlands and Portugal — are leveraging infrastructure that built and sustained men’s soccer success. They’re now investing in their women’s programs. In the U.S., meanwhile, an effort to replicate some aspects of those productive European pipelines sparked a youth soccer turf war, and ultimately failed. (I explored that effort, and the American pipeline’s flaws, in a recent piece. Dan Wetzel also explained the impact in his Tuesday column.) USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski had led the team since 2019. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/USSF/Getty Images ) But the U.S. was still the 2023 World Cup favorite. What did everybody miss? The USWNT still has some wonderfully talented players. But we all probably overlooked a few things: 1. All but one of the 23 Americans at this World Cup play in the NWSL, the U.S. pro league, which no longer boasts the sport’s top non-American talent. We probably overrated domestic stars such as Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, not to mention Emily Foxand Andi Sullivan, or at least overestimated their readiness for the global stage. (Most European stars, on the other hand, battle-test themselves regularly in the UEFA Women's Champions League, at the pinnacle of the club game. The only USWNT star currently playing in it is Lindsey Horan.) 2. The Americans are gifted but not developed properly. Many are one-dimensional or incomplete. They can run, and dribble, and shoot, and win aerial duels. But they struggle to pass and move, or to read the game. In the sport’s more primitive days, their athleticism shrouded shortcomings; we incorrectly assumed that would happen again. 3. It hasn’t happened because Andonovski seemingly wants his players to play modern, technical, positional soccer — a game for which they’re ill-equipped, and a scheme they’re clearly doubting. "Every single player, in every single line, is not being set up to succeed," former USWNT forward Christen Press said this week. Both Press and fellow former U.S. forward Tobin Heath said they've felt that since the 2021 Olympics. "You [Press] were one of the best players going into the Olympics," Heath said. "Sam Mewis was one of the best players in the world going into the Olympics. How [does a player like that] become nothing? And that’s what I’m seeing [at the World Cup]." So what’s been the USWNT’s main problem at this World Cup? The USWNT can’t control games because they can’t keep the ball. They can’t keep the ball for a variety of reasons. When they try, they think one pass at a time, rather than seeing a game’s broader picture and building attacks with a coherent, multi-step plan. They play as individuals, as 11 rather than one. Their off-ball movement against Portugal was particularly dreadful. Sequences like this one were a regular occurrence: Dreadful off-ball movement then has cascading consequences. Without it, nobody on the ball has belief that they’ll be able to find an open teammate. So, rather than keep it and wait for teammates, they chuck it upfield in a panic. And once it starts getting chucked, there’s no point in off-ball movement. So the entire team becomes stagnant. Confidence — in one another, and oneself — wanes. And staleness becomes cyclical. “We need a little bit more belief when we're playing,” Horan said Tuesday. “We need to be more calm, we need to be more poised.” Then again, it’s tough to be poised when there’s nobody to pass to. That’s why players seem to be spooked. Are there defensive problems too? They’re also admittedly not “in sync” defensively. The same second-guessing and lack of trust apply to pressing, which I explained in detail after the Netherlands game. So is all of that a player problem? Or a coaching problem? It’s both. Andonovski’s apparent attempt to implement a modern system was worthwhile, but faulty. It became increasingly obvious over the past year, at least to outside observers, that his system wasn’t working and doesn’t suit his current players — to the extent that, three games into a World Cup, it’s genuinely unclear what the plan even is, or whether one exists. Wingers receive the ball on the touchline; center backs step with it into midfield; and time and time again, it’s entirely unclear whom they’re supposed to pass to or what they’re supposed to do. And yet, Andonovski has never bothered to find an alternate plan. “We have to stick to our principles, we have to stick to our game model, and we have to stick to our philosophy,” he said Tuesday. To which fans responded: What principles? What game model? What philosophy? What should the U.S. be doing instead? They should play direct and in transition, pressing like madwomen and maximizing their athleticism, which remains best-in-class. Long balls are often derided — and rightfully so when they’re a last resort, which is often what they seem to be for the USWNT. They’re the panicked chucks, which are one reason the U.S. ranks 21st at this World Cup in passes per sequence — a measure of sustained possession that typically elevates good teams. Long balls, though, can be effective when they’re coordinated. Forwards can stretch an opposing back line; midfielders can position themselves to win second balls; and boom, matches can be dominated without possession. The U.S. should try it someday. Has Andonovski ever made adjustments? Not really. He made various questionable decisions long ago — that Crystal Dunn, a superstar midfielder, was going to play left back; that Smith, the NWSL's most prolific striker, was going to play on the wing; that the team was going to play a certain style — and he's never wavered from them. "In every soccer match, you need to make tactical adjustments to exploit spaces, get numerical advantages, yada yada," Press said. "And we haven’t seen, in a [World Cup] game, any of those tactical adjustments. But it points to the larger point: Have we seen any tactical adjustments in the last year? Have we seen any different formations tried? Have we seen any adjustments to the way that we’re pressing? We’ve seen the team come out for the past year in the same general shape, in the same general pressing structure." Why hasn’t Andonovski tried something different? Shrug. Perhaps he was fooled by Mallory Swanson’s brilliance. Swanson almost single-handedly stole a few wins for the U.S. earlier this year despite troubling team performances. Then she tore her patellar tendon in April. USWNT players pose for the team photo prior to their match against Portugal at Eden Park in Auckland on Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images) How much have injuries hurt the U.S.? They’ve certainly hurt, and would be a viable excuse for not winning a third consecutive World Cup — but not for looking this impotent. In addition to Swanson, Catarina Macario — who likely would’ve started at striker — has been out for over a year recovering from a torn ACL. Midfielder Sam Mewis has been out since 2021. And Becky Sauerbrunn, theteam’s veteran defensive leader, aggravated a foot injury in early June, forcing her to miss the tournament. In Sauerbrunn’s absence, Andonovski moved Julie Ertzfrom defensive midfield back to center back; and in Ertz’s resultant midfield absence, Andi Sullivan has been a liability. So are all of these struggles the new norm for the USWNT? Not to this degree. Many inside women’s soccer have been expecting American dominance to disappear eventually, for reasons mentioned at the top of this article. But the U.S. should remain among the contenders. It will likely have a new coach come 2024 and beyond. It will have fewer injuries, and better luck. And remember: For all the hysteria of the past 36 hours, the USWNT could very well still advance deep into the 2023 World Cup. Its defense has been solid. Its Expected Goal numbers — a complicated stat that measures chance creation — have been strong. It still hasn’t lost this calendar year; it could continue to survive and advance while playing putrid soccer. https://sports.yahoo.com/the-uswnts-problems-explained-161944708.html
  13. This is the Optimus Prime of all SNL commercials shot on film as a legit commercial. Don't know why I forgot about this one considering how many times I've linked it, but it is the first (probably) and arguably the best (probably).
  14. Napoleon

    USMNT 2023

    Sergiño Dest appears to have found a team that wants him. Numbers to be released after deal has been signed.
  15. There is a tequila lounge at the tennis tournament in DC this week.
  16. Bass-o-Matic was likely the first sketch performed as a commercial, but I can’t remember any sticking that were filmed and then shown during the show as a commercial right after a sketch, like Schmitt’s Gay. There may have been some in the ‘80s that were filmed, but Schmitt’s Gay was in 1991, I think, and I know that they have filmed fake commercials ever since The Torino’s Pizza Rolls 3 Super Bowl arch is a pretty funny watch. Mom Jeans, Bad Idea Jeans, Alexa Silver is near-and-dear to my heart with the number of old people in my family I have had the misfortune to live and care for. Feel like this was at least well into the 1990s, if not 2000s.
  17. Napoleon

    MLS 2023

    Too late in the season for that at 8pm (or even 7:30pm), but the nice reminder of the sun is that East side seat that is still at least 110°F when you get to it. 🔥
  18. Spain has scored 5 (FIVE) goals in the first half and lead… 4-1
  19. I feel like SNL wasn’t really doing fake commercials in the late ‘80s to early ‘90s and then they made this one and it was hilarious. Fairly certain I was waiting tables the night of this episode and it was a bit later and I was trying to watch the TV while keeping an eye on my tables and I couldn’t figure out whether this was SNL or a commercial with some of the cast. Then laughter near the TV ensued. Just so blunt and funny.
  20. Napoleon

    USMNT 2023

    🙏 But if SJ isn’t selling Cowell, I think that returning to the US will provoke an attitude adjustment. My guess is that his biggest problem is between the ears.
  21. Napoleon

    MLS 2023

    Yesterday, the high was about 105°, and when I headed out for a bike ride just before 8pm, we were looking at:
  22. Fritz v Murray @ 3-3 in the 3rd set right now. I think that the winner has to play again in about 3 or 4 hours.
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