Topic: The Push Square Football (Soccer) Thread

This is the official initiation of smack-talk of U.S. vs England Women’s World Cup game.
I don’t really like soccer, but ... yay, for the U.S.! Way more competitive than our men will ever be, so long as the NFL rules professional sports here.

England had the USA there for the taking.

@themcnoisy Awful penalty. Missing three penalties in the tournament is shocking.

@Thrillho Oh well. I'm proud of Steph Houghton though she has played great in every match and England wouldn't have passed the group without her. Bardsley being injured massively effected our shape defensively too. Similar in many ways to England going out to Croatia last year I'm actually proud of England as a team and both Southgate and Neville have been amazing managers. Haven't felt this way since 1996.

Yeah that was a great chance to beat the USA. No Rapinoe as well. We were poor in the first half, better in the second. I just want to see someone play well against the USA for 90 minutes.

Looks like it was a good game. Props to the ladies of England! Haven’t watched the game yet, just saw the score at the end of the workday. I think England was probably our toughest challenge, the next game should be easier.

@Th3solution US definitely deserved that win in every way, so congrats.

Great match to watch too, so I'd recommend it if you still have time.

Who'll be the other finalist you all reckon?

I have yet to hear watch the US- England match but I know US won (thank you ESPN alerts). So I am excited to see it.

@Kidfried Yeah, I’m a really bad soccer fan. I’m not really sure I know what off-sides means or what constitutes a foul. I only follow the sport during the World Cup. But it is fun to be able to cheer for the national team.
I think the Netherlands maybe has a slight edge in the other game. I’m not sure though — just going off of 10 minutes of watching ESPN.

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So the preseason is now underway I was wondering how you see next Season turning out.

Who will finish in the top 6 and which teams will be relegated?

I expect the top 6 will be the usual big boys. It'll probably take some effort to stop Man City keeping the title too but hopefully it'll be as exciting as last year.

Interested to see how Wolves get on again and see if they can build on last season. I think it'll be a stronger league overall without Cardiff, Fulham and Huddersfield.

As for my team (Bristol City), if we can get a goalscorer in before the window closes then we might have a real go at finally getting in the top 6 again.

@themcnoisy too early to tell as the transfer window hasn't shut yet. As a Liverpool fan, I wanted to see a bit more than signing a youngster and maybe 2 who you expect won't get many first team opportunities apart from cup runs.

Looking at the other top 6 sides, City have spent money - admittedly lost Kompany and Spurs too have strengthened. To go one step further this season, I do think they need depth because it was that lack of depth that saw them flag a bit and let City catch up and overtake them. 7pt+ gap and its that tricky part of the season, the after Christmas/New Year fixtures before the 'final' run in that has been LFC's Achilles heel everytime we have looked like winning the Premier League.

Its not that I won't back Liverpool - after all they have the Ox and Brewster available - unless injury hits. Brewster is an exciting talent but ready for the Premiership? That's unknown. The squad isn't 'old' but sometimes lack that something special from midfield. Salah and Mane aren't Strikers and its more the law of averages - give them enough chances and they will make some count and their speed often means they get a lot of chances.

I think when the Window closes, we may have a better idea of how things may go. Things could radically change if teams put the money in or quite precarious, relying on a 'few' to remain relatively free from injury, not have too much cover that could at least do a reasonable job even if they are not on the same level. Some new signings too may take time to get up to the pace and settle in the side so being able to take advantage of those may be important at the start of the season for some clubs - hit the ground running and get the points early which puts pressure on others - particularly for those teams that may be fighting at the wrong end of the table.

In all honesty, I haven't really spent too much time looking at the teams, who they have bought and who has left. Chelsea could struggle this season without Hazard and their transfer ban - but Lampard may get more out of the team as a whole. With the Window open, its rather difficult to predict because players (like Pogba and Lukaku) could leave which may help the 'team' - especially with some good recruitments.

@themcnoisy
I wish I could contribute but the sports I follow closely enough to hold a good conversation about are the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and Tennis. I like to watch soccer if there's a big game but I don't know enough about the teams and players.

@themcnoisy Will give you my prediction in August before the season starts. Transfer window hasn't shut, yet but at the moment I see Liverpool and especially City being favourites again.

@themcnoisy I reckon top 6 will be the normal lot except Man Utd will be replaced with Wolves. Man Utd are going to be in for a tough ride if they lose Pogba and Wolves are on the up. I don’t see Liverpool winning over Man City so I reckon it’ll be quite similar to last season. As for my team (Celtic), I can dream of at least Champions League second round. 10 in a row isn’t too far off now!

@themcnoisy What is any of this?

Liverpool lost just one game all season and still lost out by a point. Unless City go backwards this season and Liverpool continue to have a lot of luck and turn those draws into wins, I can't see the title going anywhere but the Etihad again.

There's still a lot of ins and outs between now and the start of the season so I'll come back to this for my predictions.

I'm a massive Liverpool fan but city will be hard to beat

@themcnoisy YUCK, football. Cricket is where it's at!

@Gamer83 That's how I feel as well. The only soccer I watch is the national teams, like Olympics or the World Cup. When it comes to the Major League stuff I have no clue.