John Herdman is a fantastic football coach. He has taken the CMT to another level. We are lucky to have him as our field manager. His point about money is not lost on me, but, dude, you need to find and develop better players. I know that it all takes money, but to moan about not having enough money when your side falls short in the final to a higher ranked squad you need to find and develop better players. Team USA and Team Mexico are not funded like the big sides in Europe ot South America.

Canada is playing the US in the CONCACAF Nations League final tomorrow night. It's like the FA Cup in Europe, but different. Canada with a good chance at a International Trophy for the first time in almost forever (25+ years, I think). Match is being played in Sin City .. is everything happening there these days? GO CANADA !! MUST WIN !!

WOW!! https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65832658?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

One of my favourites has retired from football. https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/6/5/ac-milan-striker-zlatan-ibrahimovic-retires-from-football-at-41 He was just such an amazing goal scorer. I have him as my #5 all time (only players that I have watched play). 1. Pele 2. Maradona 3. Messi 4. CR7 5. Zlatan (Golden) Ibrahimovic (Son of Abraham)

Yeah, I’m 95% done caring about soccer/football. There really is no point unless you’re a fan of the Petro-fascist state owned clubs. And if you are, give your head a shake and have a think about things.

City wins it again. Ho, hum. Epic colapse of Arsenal was, indeed, epic. I feel badly for Gunner fans, especially @Sabel79.

What the German National team did is just terrible. Mesut was still a baller then and could have run the mid-field very well for them, but no they needed to be stupid instead.

As an Arsenal fan I love Mesut. Could have been an all-time great. Sad the way he fizzled out, but he clearly just stopped caring after the Germany World cup debacle. Sad.

One of my favourites has retired from pro football ... https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65037573?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA At 34 he still has a lot to offer. He took much abuse for plain old BS from fans. Dude has Turkish heritage and is a practicing Muslim for Pete's sake. Of course, he will be a supporter of Turkey. I love Turkey (the country) too and I don't get that kind of abuse.

My hope, as always, they fall out of the top 5 and just keep on going down the table.

Lol @ Man United. That is all.

The Real Madrid-Liverpool halftime puts the NFL to shame. It's like 15 mins of straight ads. Not even the pretense of a halftime show.

I knew that I could count on you. Some other super rich jackass has made an extra time announcement concerning Man U. At least he is English ... Sir Jackass. 6.5 Billion Pounds is so outrageous that it's beyond mind boggling.

The only hope the premier league has of remaining a going concern in the next few years is relegating Man City straight down the the National League ASAP and sending a copy of the decision to Chelsea, Newcastle, and now ManU with the good parts highlighted. Otherwise, the entire exercise will be a pointless sports washing exercise for petro-fascist regimes and we’ll all welcome the closed-shop Euro league with open arms.

The super rich have already ruined football so who cares about another ... https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/18/qatar-based-bid-for-manchester-united-confirmed-on-deadline-day

*Stop me if you've heard this one before* Real Madrid with yet another Club World Cup title. These things are so boring, unless you are a fan of the hand full of clubs that always seem to win this thing. There are so many *titles* these days I just can't keep track of it all.

Seems like PSG is leaving their home of 50 years in some kind of dispute with the city. Since they have been owned by some rich fat cat from the Middle East they have been one of the best sides money can buy. Money can buy you the best footballers, but not the city of Paris. Question is ... where will they play. My guess is that this will all quietly go away and the owner will shut up and just continue with the lease at the stadium. I think it's signed forever or close to it. I hate this part of football. Love the game on the pitch, but leave all the nonsense out of it and I'd be happy.

Bale was a Welsh and UK all-time great. I'll miss watching him, for sure.

Not a fan of the *man bun* atoll, but I like this guy. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64214855 Going out at a young age, but 17 seasons racked up takes a tole. Not to mention all the CLs.

My #5 all time is a tough call. I can only choose from the players that I have watched. So many are possible, but I think I will go with Ibrahimovic (son of Ibrahim / Abraham) ... first name Zlatan (Golden). He is a living highlight reel and a pretty funny dude too.

RIP !! https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/soccer-pele-obituary-1.6698012?cmp=rss I believe him to be the greatest of all time. Followed by Maradona then Messi and then CR7.

That was a fantastic final. One of the best, if not the best, ever. FIFA's dream final. I am happy for Messi and now he and CR7 can pass on the best player title to Mbappe. FIFA and football is steep in tradition in many ways. They have embraced VAR (I am not a fan of it) and EURO and WC format changes recently. I do not see them going to a sudden death playoff format and away from penalties as the final deciding factors any time soon. A majority of the fans like the Extra Time and then penalties format. Penalties may not be fair or just in ending a WC final like yesterday's, but it is what has been and the fans love the drama. I remember in '94 when Roberto Baggio (best player on the planet at the time) would have won the WC for Italy with his final penalty, but put it well over the bar. Stuff happens and that is part of the excitement. I was a fan of Man C for a time, but decided to not follow since they are putting the best side money can buy out there. @Eleven has been following Norwich FC for some time and for the last few years I have followed them pretty closely. They are promoted and then demoted to the EPL on a failry regular schedule. They are a side that is too good for ECL, but not quite good enough to stick in the EPL. Messi is certainly the best of this era only because he has his WC (finally, which shows how hard it is to win) and CR7 does not and most likely will not. There have been many great footballers over the years. It's hard to pick a top 5, but I think I would have Messi at #3 ... behind Pele and Maradona. Then Messi and Christiano at #4. Not sure who I would have at #5.

I don’t watch a ton of soccer, but a fair amount of Man City and a lot of World Cup every four years. While my soccer viewing is limited, I can say today’s final was the greatest soccer match I’ve ever witnessed. And nobody is more deserving than the Gretzky of soccer, Lionel Messi.

That was a fantastic WC Final. Mbappe almost single-handedly brought France back from the dead twice, but I'm happy that Messi got this capstone on his career. Continuing the thoughts from the "Other Sports" thread, I'd love to see FIFA at least demo sudden death ET. I'm thinking at least for the Final, but I'd be content if they applied this once the Group Stage ends. I was thinking 30 minute periods with a short rest in between. Penalty kicks, like the hockey shootout, have always left me with a sour taste. At least the NHL puts aside the gimmickery in the playoffs. I wish that FIFA would consider it.

By all accounts this was a fantastic WC. Still have a sour taste due to the host and stuff. Bad stuff. Very happy for Messi. This should end the Messi vs CR7 debate once and for all.