2020/21 International Club Football Thread

[devo22]

RB Leipzig are signing Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Salzburg. Shocker.

[SuperMatt18]

I feel like I must have missed a good post explaining why Devo hates RB Leipzig somewhere...

[Senator Clay Davis]

I think it's because he's a Monster Energy guy.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I feel like I must have missed a good post explaining why Devo hates RB Leipzig somewhere...

there might be one somewhere, but might as well recap once more

it's complicated. I don't really "hate" them, because as somebody who dislikes Bayern Munich and their stranglehold on the German Bundesliga, they are pretty much the only hope for some competition and maybe a different champion at some point. But at the same time, you can't really like them as a football fan if you look at their background. It's a plastic club fueled by an energy drink, and it pretty much flies in the face of everything you'd like about football.

Being from Salzburg, it has been a wild 15 years. I have seen my first football love, Austria Salzburg, go belly up in 2005. Let's not kid ourselves, the club was flat out broke and would have died a painful death without RB stepping in. That rescue mission came at a price though: RB completely rebranded the club, shredded its history and changed the logo and colours. That obviously led to a complete fracture within the fan base: some stayed, some left in anger. Now, RB stepping in obviously completely changed the structure in Austrian football. The club had finished 7th and 9th in the two seasons before RB arrived - since then, they've won 8 titles and were runner-ups the other 4 times. Funnily enough, the first few years, where they really shelled out a lot of money, were not that great. Nowadays, everybody thinks of young players when it comes to Salzburg ... it was not that way in the early RB years. It was more of a circus, and there were more "big" names. The likes of Trapattoni, Matthäus and Stevens coached them, and they got some old Bayern players like Zickler and Linke among other expensive players. But the football became a lot more enjoyable when they changed directions and went for a youth strategy.

Everybody knew RB wanted a club in Germany though, and they got one in 2009. It took them 7 years until they reached the Bundesliga, but we all knew it was going to happen at some point. It was clear that Salzburg would take a back seat once Leipzig arrived, but the sheer volume of player transfers between the two clubs caught me a bit by surprise. I mean, it was inevitable that they'd use that advantage, but they surely wouldn't take the piss if they didn't want to provoke UEFA and FIFA, right? Well, turns out they didn't care. When Leipzig missed promotion to the Bundesliga in 2015, they weren't taking any chances that it was going to happen again, so they brought in 5 players from Salzburg that year (Gulacsi and Sabitzer among them). And really, it hasn't stopped since. Keita, Upamecano, Laimer, Haidara, Wolf, Hwang, now Szoboszlai, and several more.

So, from a Salzburg perspective, it's a strange relationship. There's no denying that those clubs were created in the same lab, and there certainly can't be a holier than thou feeling in any way. It's just frustrating to have to serve as a farm team I guess, especially since Salzburg won both EL games against them a couple of years ago. Personally, I wouldn't consider myself a Salzburg fan anyway - that has ended a long time ago. But I still follow them with interest and like to watch some of their games. I am not naive - I know that those Salzburg players leave as soon as they get a good offer from abroad, and that's fine. I've pretty much developed an "everyone but Leipzig" feeling here I am always happy if a player lands a gig at a great club in another country. It just pisses me off that RB uses their setup to have an unfair advantage over other clubs.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

RB Leipzig are signing Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Salzburg. Shocker.

Is this some sort of Anschluss?

[cheevers]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I feel like I must have missed a good post explaining why Devo hates RB Leipzig somewhere...

RB Leipzig also gets to skirt the 50+1 rule which gives them an advantage over 3/4 of the bundesliga. Not to mention redbull has a tv channel that gives alt right losers a platform.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by cheevers

RB Leipzig also gets to skirt the 50+1 rule which gives them an advantage over 3/4 of the bundesliga. Not to mention redbull has a tv channel that gives alt right losers a platform.

yeah, this. Hoffenheim, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg too. I don't really care if they want to keep 50+1 or ditch it, but if you keep it, at least make sure that every club really has to adhere to it.

The TV channel has all the MotoGP races, so that's great. Best to ignore the rest.

[ditty]

Robert Lewandowski wins FIFA World Male Footballer of the Year. Messi and Ronaldo were the other finalists.

I think Ronaldo is still the best player in the world but I like this choice. Lewandowski had an incredible goal scoring rate this past year and I'm glad that a traditional striker is recognized.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Anyone not watching this LAFC vs Club America Concacaf Champs League semi final is missing out. Peak Concacaf!

LAFC could’ve (should’ve) had a red card very early for a punch out to a Club America player. Club America has been flopping, LAFC has been flopping. Now a red card to LAFC for striking the face of Ochoa. This is chaos!

LAFC coach getting in the faces of Club America players at half, peak Concacaf here. Ref lost control of this long ago, noth sides probably should’ve had players sent off and LAFC should’ve had a penalty prior to their red card

[devo22]

well, that's one way to start a football game I guess

https://streamable.com/h3zbd5

[devo22]

crazy news out of France today. PSG have sacked Thomas Tuchel, and Mauricio Pochettino is set to take over ... wow

[Senator Clay Davis]

Pink slip for Christmas is never a good present. Wonder if this prompts Arsenal to sack Arteta for another PSG reject.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by devo22

crazy news out of France today. PSG have sacked Thomas Tuchel, and Mauricio Pochettino is set to take over ... wow

Perfect. Keeps Poch out of the PL as I didn't want to see him at a rival club. I really like him and think he's a good manager, but seems like a genuinely good person as well.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Pink slip for Christmas is never a good present. Wonder if this prompts Arsenal to sack Arteta for another PSG reject.

Theres worse rejects than Tuchel. I think he'd be an upgrade on a lot of PL Managers.

[Howie_16]

Merry Christmas everyone. My first post regarding my Hambunglers since they crashed out of the DFB Pokal. I can assure you they have continued to entertain for sure!

They opened up the season with 5 straight wins, followed by 5 games without a win, followed by 3 more wins. The currently sit 2nd going into a much shorter winter break.



One interesting thing for me and my club to share as well. I was chosen to be interviewed for a "HSV Worldwide" segment that was published on the teams English Language website & social media!

https://www.hsv.de/en/fans/official-...de-derek-howat

They are setting me up again for disappointment, but I don't care! NUR DER HSV!

[Locke]

That is so cool Howie!

When the world stops insisting on ending it'd be great to grab a drink again.

[cheevers]

I assumed all the photos would be with a bag over your head. That is awesome Howie, hopefully we get more Bundesliga fans with it being the only game on regular TV these days.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by cheevers

I assumed all the photos would be with a bag over your head. That is awesome Howie, hopefully we get more Bundesliga fans with it being the only game on regular TV these days.

I dont even know where to watch Bundesliga2 matches though.

[Howie_16]

Originally Posted by Locke

That is so cool Howie! When the world stops insisting on ending it'd be great to grab a drink again.

Absolutely!

[Howie_16]

Originally Posted by Locke

I dont even know where to watch Bundesliga2 matches though.

I do.