|
United States10530 Posts
On May 30 2026 21:39 evilfatsh1t wrote: what a shambles at liverpool. they let alonso go to chelsea just to sack slot right after. wat I think Edwards and Hughes just don't want a "manager" type figure which I think Alonso would've asked for like Klopp. Iraola is probably more comfortable just being a head coach and not having too much sway.
|
Looks like Iraola to Liverpool is almost certain. Don't know much about the guy, but as far as I've understood, he plays nice attacking football and seems to have done exceptionally well at Bournemouth. With my limited knowledge, he's probably the #2 pick after Xabi for me.
Wikipedia describes him as Gegenpresser and willing to play some high risk scenarios. Seems like a decent follow up on the Klopp tradition of football to me. We'll see how it goes in terms of consistency and all that, but I like the setup.
|
United States10530 Posts
Yes I'm excited. He's definitely a Klopp-follower of the gengenpress so at least, even if we don't find the results, the football will be much more interesting and fun to watch.
|
Eriksen...for his sake i hope he takes this one seriously and considers retirement :/
|
yeah i wouldnt be surprised if he calls it after the tournament is over
|
Yeah, with Wolfsburg dropping to 2nd Bundesliga it seems like a decent moment for retiring. It's not the nicest way to end a career, but probably for the best.
Somebody suggested he'd join a club for one game and get subbed in at the very end and walk away on his own terms one more time, but I don't think there's much point to it. He's not the first guy who has to conclude the career due to injury.
|
if the club was tottenham or united or any other club hes been at for a while, even that would be a very unlikely but understandable thing to do. to do it at a completely new club where you have no connection to the fans? not a chance
|
One of the referees for the World Cup has been refused entry despite having a visa and will no longer ref.
A Somali referee, who was set to become the first person from his country to officiate at a World Cup, has been denied access to the US and will not work at the tournament.
Fifa confirmed that Omar Artan “will be unable to train and officiate at the Fifa World Cup 2026” in a statement issued to media on Monday. The governing body passed responsibility for the situation to the US government, saying that they were “informed by authorities that Mr Artan’s status will not be changed at present”.
Artan was refused entry to the US at Miami international airport this past weekend, despite allegedly having a valid travel visa. Somalia is one of several countries currently under a broad travel ban imposed by the Trump administration and while the reasons behind any decision to deny Artan entry to the US have not been made clear, representatives of the Somali government said the decision had “undermined football’s commitment to fair play”. Guardian article
|
Northern Ireland27236 Posts
On June 09 2026 19:06 DropBear wrote:One of the referees for the World Cup has been refused entry despite having a visa and will no longer ref. Show nested quote +A Somali referee, who was set to become the first person from his country to officiate at a World Cup, has been denied access to the US and will not work at the tournament.
Fifa confirmed that Omar Artan “will be unable to train and officiate at the Fifa World Cup 2026” in a statement issued to media on Monday. The governing body passed responsibility for the situation to the US government, saying that they were “informed by authorities that Mr Artan’s status will not be changed at present”.
Artan was refused entry to the US at Miami international airport this past weekend, despite allegedly having a valid travel visa. Somalia is one of several countries currently under a broad travel ban imposed by the Trump administration and while the reasons behind any decision to deny Artan entry to the US have not been made clear, representatives of the Somali government said the decision had “undermined football’s commitment to fair play”. Guardian article In similar news: Tickets for Iran fans revoked, says federation - BBC
Under the conditions of their visas, they [the team] will have to fly in and out of the United States on matchday for each of their three group games.
This all seems rather fucking farcical eh?
I don’t recall ever being less enthused for a World Cup. Qatar I had pretty serious ethical qualms with, but if nothing else they bent over backwards to make it a good event.
Between gouging the fuck out of fans, leaving fans in visa limbo and all sorts of similar things, I can’t think of worse in terms of the ‘show’ itself in recent times.
Fuck sake
|
It's not just one ref - it's actually African's referee of the year isn't it? Also lol at Fifa not protecting their people
|
On June 10 2026 15:40 sharkie wrote: It's not just one ref - it's actually African's referee of the year isn't it? Also lol at Fifa not protecting their people
It's a disgrace really. Like so many thing with this WC.
It starts tomorrow and I really couldn't care less and none of the people I know care much. Maybe that'll change after groups but I highly doubt it.
|
On June 10 2026 17:36 Harris1st wrote:Show nested quote +On June 10 2026 15:40 sharkie wrote: It's not just one ref - it's actually African's referee of the year isn't it? Also lol at Fifa not protecting their people It's a disgrace really. Like so many thing with this WC. It starts tomorrow and I really couldn't care less and none of the people I know care much. Maybe that'll change after groups but I highly doubt it. It will change.
It might even change by the last game of the groups.
Its the same every time tbh. I always start off thinking its boring and end up completely engrossed.
|
Pretty much. Last week I said I couldn't care less. Then people at work started a betting pool and I figured "what the hell, might as well join". Then I saw I had to start predicting the scoreline of Haiti vs Scotland and figured that instead of filling in random numbers, I'd have Claude throw together a little model. And that was my weekend gone and now I've ingested a shitload of football data through osmosis, because how the hell can I correct my little model if I don't understand the corner cases. So now I'm invested, and wondering what matches they'll show on tv. And it'll only get worse as the tournament proceeds and some team I like is doing well.
Fuck FIFA and fuck the terrible organisation. But it's still the most engrossing sports tournament on the planet.
|
Northern Ireland27236 Posts
I’m sure it’ll bite me at some point, plus it’s only the second World Cup Minibat has really been old enough to follow so that’ll be fun
It is the bloody World Cup after all! But my god, this FIFA/US combo ain’t making it easy haha
|
ill still follow the tournament. for all the shit thats going on behind the scenes, for the overseas viewer like me, all i see about the tournament is the actual match on tv. and once youre watching the match on tv youre sucked into a bubble where the other drama becomes irrelevant at least temporarily.
of course if all the teams im interested in get knocked out then ill probably stop watching then
|
Yeah in that regard as i mentioned a couple of weeks (a month ago?) around here that nobody cares until club football ended and that has been the case. coverage and interest exploded as soon as the league and cup finalized, not that many complaints about price or the US in general.
There is too much air time in our tv that is filed with football so its either the usual 5 programs a day about squad and transfer updates or you over focus on the NT and the WC.
Now you get bombarded on tv, brands using adds completely football related and even the stupid panini stickers turned the attention away really fast and people are already planning on how can they watch later games and sleep enough for work.
|
51667 Posts
3 red cards in the first game lol
|
Norway28875 Posts
Well I watched the first game and that was kinda meh
Mexico's previous 8 wc's are 7 advance from group stage and then eliminated immediately, and one group stage exit. I imagine that stat holding - at most ro16, but they're certainly leaving the group stage. They looked good for about 15 minutes here, afterwards, very unimpressive. South Africa looked like what must be one of the worst teams to qualify.
Also, three direct red cards in what was not a particularly dirty game. Thought #2 and #3 were harsh personally.
|
51667 Posts
watched korea vs czech game at work. was kind of shitting my pants after the first czech goal from that insane throw in but glad they were able to get two goals without having son on the field.
|
theres been a lot of negativity and doubt about korea this year (and rightly so) within korea but im glad we didnt choke this first game. if we had lost to czech the entire squad and coaching staff would be forced to swim back to the country
|
|
|
|
|
|