ny redbulls vs. FC Barcelona

[bigdaddysuperfreak]

Aug 6 @ Giants stadium

Im taking my son to the game for his bday. It is gonna be so sweet, even if my team is gonna get their ass kicked.

[Mike the Metal Ed]

I remember when we only lost 1-0 to them before the 2003/04 season and Muzzy Izzet made Ronaldinho look like crap. :cool:

[bigdaddysuperfreak]

I am not fortunate enough to have seen that, im gonna have to find that video. My son is really looking forward to the game since this is the first time he is going to any major event.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

That's pretty tight. If the New England Revolution ever played a well known team from overseas I'd probably check it out even though I'm not really a soccer fan, would just be cool to see.

[BCWWF]

New England Revolution need to get themselves a real stadium. I could go on and on about MLS, but one of the things that always has bothered me is that for all of the potential in a cool city like Boston, the Revolution are one of the few teams still playing in an NFL stadium and are the only one of those teams not even trying to build their own.

Red Bull Park next year should be sweet, hopefully the team can get a high-profile replacement for Reyna so there is some hype. New York is such an untapped market for this league still.

That's all.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

I thought the Revolution have been trying to build their own stadium? I've heard of a few different locations in or around Boston as potential sites for one.

[The Mackem]

One of the best players I've ever seen, Reyna, shame he was injured quite a bit while at Sunderland.

[Loose Cannon]

Claudio Reyna? really? wow, didn't think anybody outside the US thought highly of him

[Moonax]

One of the best players I've ever seen, Reyna, shame he was injured quite a bit while at Sunderland.

Better than Milton Nunez?

[bigdaddysuperfreak]

Reyna is so horrible now. Either he is injured or he plays like he is. I dont know if NE is building a stadium, but the red bulls definitely are and it should be done for next season. Its so shitty going to a game and seeing a huge NFL symbol in the middle.

[ct2k]

Tim Howard ftw

[BCWWF]

I follow MLS expansion and development pretty seriously. San Jose, Houston, Kansas City and D.C. are all in talks to get stadiums. Some aren't anywhere close though.

New York, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia have stadiums on the way right now

Toronto, LA, Chivas, Chicago, Dallas, Colorado and Columbus have their own.

So New England and soon-to-be Seattle are the only ones without, but Qwest Field is supposed to be designed for soccer as much as football, so we'll see how that works out. It's all pretty interesting in general, just because it is developing so quickly on a pretty big scale.

[BCWWF]

From Wikipedia:

On June 14, 2006, MLS announced that the Revolution were hoping to build a new soccer-specific stadium. Bids have gone out to local towns around New England to see where the Revs could have a stadium built.[6]
On August 2, 2007, the Boston Herald published an article stating that the city of Somerville and Revolution officials have held "preliminary discussions" about building a 20,000 to 25,000 seat stadium on a 100 acre site off of Innerbelt Road near Interstate 93, and could cost anywhere between $50 and $200 million based on other similar Soccer Specific Stadiums built by Major League Soccer teams.[7]

So they have feelers out there, but nothing like the other teams. The other ones I listed all have a location and are just trying to figure out funding: San Jose (Airport), Houston (Downtown), Kansas City (Bannister Mall) and D.C. (Poplar Point).

Stima, what do you think about the city mentioned in Wikipedia? Do you think soccer could work outside of an urban area in Boston, or would it be a big difference to find a centralized place downtown? I would hope they can find somewhere more central.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Do the Patriots/Robert Kraft have anything type of ties with the Revolution though? I remember when I was looking into internships a lot of them had to do with both the Revs and the Patriots, that might just be because they play in the same stadium but I dunno it wasn't like that for Celtics/Bruins opportunities and they both play in the same place too.

Somerville isn't far from Boston at all and it is an urban area (to put in perspective I live like 10 minutes North up I93 from Boston and Somerville is a lot closer than I am, the Innerbelt Road area is like 2 exits away from the Zakim Bridge which runs next to the Garden in Boston) There is absolutely no way the Revs would actually build in the city of Boston it self, that would be way too expensive and it would never get approved anyway. There is an area in Boston that could be developed for a sports stadium/arena but I think that'll either go to the Celtics or be used for something else. As for that site in Somerville, I dunno if that's gonna happen, I think if it did it would work out very well.

[BCWWF]

Cool thanks for the response. And yeah, Robert Kraft does own the Revolution as well.

What would the Celtics use the area for? I thought that arena they play in is pretty new and centralized? Or am I just being confused because the name is relatively new?

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

No their current arena is pretty new however it is owned and operated by the Bruins, so they have to pay a lease and I guess it's not the greatest. I also know the guy who owns the Bruins also owns the company that operates the concession stands, so I don't know if that plays into it or not. I highly doubt the Celtics would ever build their own arena, since its expensive as hell obviously but if they plan to right now would be the time to do considering they just won the NBA Championship.

I am hopeful that stadium gets build in Somerville though since it would probably be a good venue for concerts and it could also present some new career opportunities for me considering I live like less than 10 minutes away. This HUGE dive bar (and I mean huge, had batting cages, basketball court, 50+ pool tables, arcade, mini-kart track etc) just got shut down and is being replaced with an Ikea store in Somerville so who knows, they might be trying to spruce up the city a lil bit.

[The Mackem]

Claudio Reyna? really? wow, didn't think anybody outside the US thought highly of him

Not saying much but one of the best players I've ever seen in a Sunderland shirt. He absolutely dominated a game at the Stadium of Light against Manchester United one year and he seemingly single handedly kept us from relegation one year. Got injured the next and we went down.

[The Mackem]

Better than Milton Nunez?

Don't know whether to laugh or cry

[Ogen]

http://www.pasionredonda.com/wp-content/images/juan-pablo-angel.jpg

What a hero of a man, hope he scores a hatrick.

[Ogen]

I was Angel :(

[BCWWF]

Angel is still the shit, meng. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Theirry Henry was lined up next to him in 2010.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Would surprise everyone else, given how he is still fucking class and how Beckham wants out.

[BCWWF]

I take that back, because of the 2010 World Cup. If France fail to qualify though — a legitimate concern — then where?

The thing with Henry is where would he go? His options are pretty limited. He still doesn't like Barcelona, he would never be sold to Madrid, would only play for Arsenal in England who happen to be essentially broke, and doesn't have a strong history in Italy (even so, he probably wouldn't be guaranteed a starting role on one of their big teams.)

Also, on the field Beckham's time here has basically been a flop, but he also signed with practically the worst team in the league. In reality,it was almost kind of like Robinho at Manchester City.

[Stickman]

There's talks of putting a beautiful stadium in Vancouver. If council quits being gay and allows it, Vancouver will get an MLS team.

[Ogen]

I take that back, because of the 2010 World Cup. If France fail to qualify though — a legitimate concern — then where?

The thing with Henry is where would he go? His options are pretty limited. He still doesn't like Barcelona, he would never be sold to Madrid, would only play for Arsenal in England who happen to be essentially broke, and doesn't have a strong history in Italy (even so, he probably wouldn't be guaranteed a starting role on one of their big teams.)

Also, on the field Beckham's time here has basically been a flop, but he also signed with practically the worst team in the league. In reality,it was almost kind of like Robinho at Manchester City.

For someone who hates where he is Henry has 12 league goals this season for a team thats playing the best football in the world. Theres literally no reason at all for him to go to America.

[Ogen]

Barcelona striker Thierry Henry has stated that he has no desire to leave the Catalan club.

Barca paid Arsenal £16million for his services in June 2007 but a disappointing first season for his exceptionally high standards followed with a return of 19 goals in all competitions.

After spending most of his time on the wings as part of a front three instead of his favoured central striking role many believed that a return to England was on the cards.

Reports even suggested that Barcelona were willing to listen to offers during the summer and despite Barca's phenomenal season to date under Pep Guardiola, where the Frenchman has scored 14 in 25, those rumours have refused to go away.

"Will I terminate my career at Barcelona? People have often named me everywhere," Henry told L'Equipe.

Staying

"But I am in Barcelona and I feel fine here. The game is nice, the town is nice, everything is nice.

"At the end of the season I will have two years remaining on my contract."

Despite Henry enjoying an impressive season to date there is one man who has outshone him this season at Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi has been in unstoppable form this season with 25 goals and is widely regarded by many as the greatest player on the planet.

And French international Henry insists it is a joy to play alongside the little Argentinean declaring that he is like nothing he has ever seen before.

"I have been lucky to play with a lot of players in my career, but with him the relationship is easy," he explained.

"Leo dribbles all the players and then gives you the ball, so you just have to score. What he is achieving on the pitch is amazing.

"I have never seen someone like that."

Nice bit about Messi in there aswell.

[CSL]

Yeah, never understood these Henry/MLS rumours. I mean, I believe it will happen because he loves America but he's still at least 2-3 years away from making that move

[BCWWF]

On the Beckham front, all shit is going to hit the fan soon.

Since he left for Milan it was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to want to come back. It's come out today that Milan's only offer to buy him back was a paltry £3 million. Seriously? MLS set a deadline of Friday for Milan to come up with a real offer, and they didn't.

It's pretty clear that Becks wants to be in Milan, and for the sake of world football I think Beckham being in Milan permanently is what should happen.

Still, AC Milan seriously low-balled for him. Anything less than £10 million should and will get laughed off the table, considering how much the man means for MLS. At the same time, throughout his career he has always been very professional, but he's pretty much lost that with MLS.

Not blaming him for wanting to be at Milan if he is capable of playing there, but he came into MLS with huge hype and talked about how he was dedicated to the league and how he wanted to improve soccer in the country. Apparently he didnt' realize that the team he signed for was shit, and after two years of injuries and slacking around the pitch he pretty much orchestrated this move back to Milan without even consulting Galaxy until it was pretty much worked out. Then he went to Milan on the fake premise that he was a Galaxy player and would be back in preseason. All of a sudden he did well and now quotes are littered around the Internet about how happy he is at Milan and how he doesn't want to come back to MLS.

Well, sorry to say Becks, you signed a deal to play in America and apparently Milan doesn't value you as much as you'd like. See you in a couple weeks.

[BCWWF]

As for the deadline, Beckham has basically belittled MLS this whole time, so last Tuesday they announced that Milan had to make an offer by Friday. This was justifiable because, more than any other player or probably league, MLS is going to base tons of marketing based on Beckham. They league can't afford to just sit there and wait for him, and the team needs to have time to find a replacement. Milan basically ignored the deadline, so we'll see what happens now. I hope MLS just says "Fuck you" to Beckham and Milan now and makes him come back here and miss out on the World Cup. He deserves it.

Anyway, Juan Pable Angel signed an extension with New York, and they are opening probably the class stadium of the league next year, so Ogen should come on out.

[The Mackem]

I expect Beckham to stay at AC Milan. Basically it tends to work out that Beckham gets what he wants. A shame for the MLS but, really, what has he done while he has been there?

[Ogen]

Beckham will end up at Milan would be madness for the MLS not to sell him when he has a clause to walk away for no fee come November.

[BCWWF]

Basically he has made the league millions and given the rest of the world reason to know the league exists. Since he's come the value of the LA Galaxy and MLS teams in general has skyrocketed, allowing the league to expand I think four teams as of 2011.

It will be interesting to see what happens, and it could get messy. I'd like Becks to be on Milan for the sake of soccer in general, but Milan and Beckham himself have been pretty brutal to MLS and Galaxy so far, so it will be interesting to see if MLS budges.

MLS will make a lot of money off Beckham this year, and that will either be by him playing or by selling him. They're not going to let him go cheap.

[BCWWF]

Beckham will end up at Milan would be madness for the MLS not to sell him when he has a clause to walk away for no fee come November.

MLS will make a lot more than £3 million (it might have even been $3 million, depending on the source) if Beckham plays in MLS this year.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Beckham did this all arse-about-tit. He should have joined AC Milan from Real Madrid, then joined MLS when he had played up until the next World Cup.

[CSL]

...but Milan and Beckham himself have been pretty brutal to MLS and Galaxy so far

Beckham and Milan brutal? Hate to think what your opinions on Nicolas Anelka, Sol Campbell, Dimitar Berbatov, Luis Figo, David Bellion, Ashley Cole, Henri Camara, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel etc might be

The way football is today, Beckham has done very well in how he's handled the whole thing. All the players listed above were 'more brutal' to teams much more popular/successful than Galaxy and made waaaaay more fuss than Beckham ever will between now and this saga playing out. If Beckham can't go Milan permanantly, he'll go back and see out his contract for LA. No throwing his toys out the pram, no sulking, no striking.

Galaxy are the ones with the problem here. I can understand them being desperate to keep him but if they really think that anybody is going to pay over £6-7m for a 33 year old, no matter who or how good he is, then they're making themselves difficult to do business with

Becks needs to leave now. Waiting until November for his contract to expire could very well be too late, with how old he is combined with how much emphasis Capello puts on current form and competitive football. Throw in the fact he's on fire at the moment, his love affair with the national team and the way he's been received in Milan and it's easy to see why he's wants to stay. LA and MLS just need to accept that. They can paint Beckham as some kind of villain if they want but it's football. There are a million worse in the game.

[CSL]

Well that turned out way longer than it was supposed too. Supposed to be maybe 2 lines

[BCWWF]

No offense but I don't really think you know what you are talking about. This isn't Nicolas Anelka leaving Bolton or Ashley Cole leaving Arsenal. This is the biggest name athlete in the world, who came to a second class league almost entirely for marketing purposes, and now he is worth a lot more to the MLS and to the Galaxy then he would be to any other team.

To put it in perspective, if Ronaldo had left Man Utd this summer, the league would still sell out 90 percent of its games, have the richest TV contract in the world and have global superstars the likes of Torres, Gerrard, Cesc, Rooney, Drogba etc. In MLS and for Galaxy, the mere presence of David Beckham fills up stadiums that would otherwise not be filled, gives the league more lucrative TV contracts and more notice on local television, expands the Galaxy name (and merchandise) beyond Los Angeles to every continent in the world.

Beckham fucked himself over. He came over saying that his heart was in this and that he was dedicated to making a difference here. After a bit it was clear that his main obsession was getting more England caps and his MLS form lacked (probably wasn't even Best XI last year). Then he went behind the Galaxy's back to set this loan agreement up. Now he is going around like a bitch passive-aggressively saying he wants to stay in Milan.

Like I said, and like a lot of Americans agree, if Beckham wants to stay in Milan, more power to him. He was a world class player and is in great form right now, I don't have a problem with him wanting to play with one of the biggest clubs in soccer. My problem is the implication that MLS and Galaxy should accept a low-ball offer for him. Beckham is worth more to the Galaxy than he is to Milan, and if Milan wants him they need to pay for him. It's David's fault for getting him into this situation, but the Galaxy is in the right.

Milan and Beckham need to realize that he is probably worth upwards of $20 million to the Galaxy, and the team makes more money and is in the news a lot more if Beckham is sulking around the pitch this summer than if they sell him for $6 million this spring.

[BCWWF]

Also, to imply that MLS should give half a shit about Beckham's England career is ridiculous. Beckham knew very well what was going to happen when he signed with MLS and it's not their fault if Fabio Capello doesn't want to pick him anymore. In fact, it's better for MLS to have Beckham around and not traveling back to England for meaningless friendlies against Uzbekistan.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Yeah Beckham knew what he was getting into, he turned down a move to Milan when he left Real Madrid and alot of people (myself included, I'll see if I can find the posts) pointed out that he had given up a serious football career for a showbiz and marketing sideline. He should have went to Milan then and went to LA Galaxy in 2010 when he would still be good enough to strut about a poor league for a couple of years.

In fact, if Lennon and Bentley had shown the level of development people expected, Beckham probably wouldn't have a sniff of the England team.

[Mooияakeя™]

Yeah, I think Bentley has all the potential but needs 2 or 3 good seasons to be a top European player. Next year is make or break for him. I think he went to the right team at the wrong time. He was playing better at Blackburn under the right manager, if he was still at Blackburn, he'd be in exactly the same position now.

I think the only other option of him doing any better now, is a loan at Portsmouth or Hull. Give him some match time and a team where he can control midfield. But I'm not sure the rules allow loans after Jan, I know some circumstances apply, but thought they were scrapping it altogether.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

He can't go on loan, transfer window is closed. Going on loan to Portsmouth or Hull would be weird.