Recent content by Joe D Reid

Correct that only the finalists get in, but the top 2 in each group make the semis where they get cross-matched against the other group. So the draw is actually really favorable for qualification.

This is not really germane, but great f---ing sweaters for both teams in this game. Looks great.

Brian Kelly and Dabo are both going off about the possibility that playoff teams who are sent to the Rose Bowl for their semifinal game will not be play in front of their families because of local COVID restrictions. It's hard to argue that it's dumb to fly two teams to a COVID hotbed so that...

2-0 Leipzig. I'm not sure what's going on to get Leipzig this kind of space down the flanks, but Nagelsmann is putting Ole in a trashcan right now. Both finishes were good, but there was absolutely no pressure on either the pass or shot for either. EDIT: Leipzig just missed a chance from right...

This has been like watching one of Arsenal's old unconvincing halves, which is a feeling I have never before associated with the USMNT.

Nobody knows where anyone else is going, but they're just clearly more talented.

If Pickford had played he'd have gotten red carded chasing after Longstaff with an abandoned shipwrighting tool. Never trust a Mackem. EDIT: And that was a delightful little win, because it makes NUFC's league position secure enough that they can focus on the dream: finding a way to overcome...

Because it's fun, let's compare the clubs for that XI versus what we ran out against TnT in the last WC qualifier: 2017 Hamburg - MLS Tijuana - MLS - Dortmund - MLS Santos Laguna - MLS - Pachuca - Newcastle MLS 2020 Chelsea -...

Well, Barcelona's outgoing president just announced at Barca have preliminarily signed on to an 18-team closed ecosystem European Super League that includes an unnamed 5 English clubs (sorry Spurs). He did so while resigning in near-disgrace, so the announcement doesn't actually mean Barca have...

The interesting piece (to me) in there is that the money for the EFL is (a) much less and (b) going almost only to Leagues One and Two because the lower half of the Premier League doesn't want to fund potential rivals. So we've gone from a plan that hoses the bottom half of the EPL for the...

The big clubs feel like they can make up the money by freeing up the extra dates for other things (and sharing the PL's 75% cut with two fewer teams). So I think it's both true that the big clubs would be giving up some money if you look *just* at this proposal, AND that at the end of the day...

I did a quick search and didn't see any discussion of this. Given that it has driven most football-adjacent media in the UK into a Very English Swivet Indeed, I thought it merited a thread. Boiled way, way down, Project Big Picture is a plan developed by JWH and the Glazers to reshape the...

It's extremely stupid turtles all the way down.

They are real bad. Newcastle clearly decided that after going up 1-0 all they had to do to win was stop anyone on the field from playing soccer. It didn't work, but the instant they started playing again they got 2 more without much effort. I can't quite see who Burnley can beat straight-up...

Gates is a good shout, but the best part about it is the sauce which you can (and should) buy bottles of at the grocery store and smuggle home in your suitcase. Do the Martini Corner circuit, too. I have fond memories of those places from when I was working in KC for the Obama campaign at a...