Soccer Thread

[bencrix]

Ben, you haven't been watching United this year if you think Smalling has been great.

I'll admit Man U is one of my least favorite teams to watch, so I'll defer to your opinion other than to say that he's still young, started a lot of games for them alongside a converted midfielder and Man U ended up with a pretty good team defensive record. Who do you think England's two best CBs are? Cahil & Stones are the only other choices at this stage, right?

Huge step for West Ham.

They do seem to be going places.

As a Tottenham follower I know that is supposed to annoy me, but I'm an American w/o connection to the tribal elements. I'm glad in the end that Tottenham was shut out of Olympic Stadium and is now redeveloping in their own neighborhood. Its the kind of nuanced project that would no doubt generate a lot of interest / debate on MJ.

[TimmyB]

Ben, you haven't been watching United this year if you think Smalling has been great.

I'll admit Man U is one of my least favorite teams to watch, so I'll defer to your opinion other than to say that he's still young, started a lot of games for them alongside a converted midfielder and Man U ended up with a pretty good team defensive record. Who do you think England's two best CBs are? Cahil & Stones are the only other choices at this stage, right?

Huge step for West Ham.

They do seem to be going places.

As a Tottenham follower I know that is supposed to annoy me, but I'm an American w/o connection to the tribal elements. I'm glad in the end that Tottenham was shut out of Olympic Stadium and is now redeveloping in their own neighborhood. Its the kind of nuanced project that would no doubt generate a lot of interest / debate on MJ.

Yeah, the running joke for us is, we still need a strong CB in the next transfer window; who knew it was to play alongside Daley Blind???      

[JaxAvondale]

Ben, you haven't been watching United this year if you think Smalling has been great.

I'll admit Man U is one of my least favorite teams to watch, so I'll defer to your opinion other than to say that he's still young, started a lot of games for them alongside a converted midfielder and Man U ended up with a pretty good team defensive record. Who do you think England's two best CBs are? Cahil & Stones are the only other choices at this stage, right?

Huge step for West Ham.

They do seem to be going places.

As a Tottenham follower I know that is supposed to annoy me, but I'm an American w/o connection to the tribal elements. I'm glad in the end that Tottenham was shut out of Olympic Stadium and is now redeveloping in their own neighborhood. Its the kind of nuanced project that would no doubt generate a lot of interest / debate on MJ.

Tottenham was the best team in the PL until April. I thought for sure that they were going to catch Leceister.

I've read a little about the development in that neighborhood. I'll be in London in October. I plan on spending some time in that area to see the stadium and the surrounding area up close.

[Adam White]

Ben, you haven't been watching United this year if you think Smalling has been great.

I'll admit Man U is one of my least favorite teams to watch, so I'll defer to your opinion other than to say that he's still young, started a lot of games for them alongside a converted midfielder and Man U ended up with a pretty good team defensive record. Who do you think England's two best CBs are? Cahil & Stones are the only other choices at this stage, right?

Huge step for West Ham.

They do seem to be going places.

As a Tottenham follower I know that is supposed to annoy me, but I'm an American w/o connection to the tribal elements. I'm glad in the end that Tottenham was shut out of Olympic Stadium and is now redeveloping in their own neighborhood. Its the kind of nuanced project that would no doubt generate a lot of interest / debate on MJ.

Tottenham was the best team in the PL until April. I thought for sure that they were going to catch Leceister.

I've read a little about the development in that neighborhood. I'll be in London in October. I plan on spending some time in that area to see the stadium and the surrounding area up close.

Tottenham or Stratford?

[JaxAvondale]

Ben, you haven't been watching United this year if you think Smalling has been great.

I'll admit Man U is one of my least favorite teams to watch, so I'll defer to your opinion other than to say that he's still young, started a lot of games for them alongside a converted midfielder and Man U ended up with a pretty good team defensive record. Who do you think England's two best CBs are? Cahil & Stones are the only other choices at this stage, right?

Huge step for West Ham.

They do seem to be going places.

As a Tottenham follower I know that is supposed to annoy me, but I'm an American w/o connection to the tribal elements. I'm glad in the end that Tottenham was shut out of Olympic Stadium and is now redeveloping in their own neighborhood. Its the kind of nuanced project that would no doubt generate a lot of interest / debate on MJ.

Tottenham was the best team in the PL until April. I thought for sure that they were going to catch Leceister.

I've read a little about the development in that neighborhood. I'll be in London in October. I plan on spending some time in that area to see the stadium and the surrounding area up close.

Tottenham or Stratford?

Tottenham but I will spend time in Stratford as well. Stratford is in the middle of gentrification/millennialification. It is an interesting area. There are a lot of good small business ideas in London that could be re-configured to consumers in and around the core. I'm fascinated with stories from the Cereal Killer Cafe in that area.

[Adam White]

Ben, you haven't been watching United this year if you think Smalling has been great.

I'll admit Man U is one of my least favorite teams to watch, so I'll defer to your opinion other than to say that he's still young, started a lot of games for them alongside a converted midfielder and Man U ended up with a pretty good team defensive record. Who do you think England's two best CBs are? Cahil & Stones are the only other choices at this stage, right?

Huge step for West Ham.

They do seem to be going places.

As a Tottenham follower I know that is supposed to annoy me, but I'm an American w/o connection to the tribal elements. I'm glad in the end that Tottenham was shut out of Olympic Stadium and is now redeveloping in their own neighborhood. Its the kind of nuanced project that would no doubt generate a lot of interest / debate on MJ.

Tottenham was the best team in the PL until April. I thought for sure that they were going to catch Leceister.

I've read a little about the development in that neighborhood. I'll be in London in October. I plan on spending some time in that area to see the stadium and the surrounding area up close.

Tottenham or Stratford?

Tottenham but I will spend time in Stratford as well. Stratford is in the middle of gentrification/millennialification. It is an interesting area. There are a lot of good small business ideas in London that could be re-configured to consumers in and around the core. I'm fascinated with stories from the Cereal Killer Cafe in that area.

There isn't much in Tottenham - and to be fair, it's a pretty rough area. Interesting enough, but not a whole lot to see. Stratford doesn't offer too much beyond the Olympic site (and the shopping centres), but there are parks and stuff, too. It's kind of neat to walk up the River Lea - you could actually walk from Stratford to Tottenham along that, if you wanted to spend the time. There are paths along the old canal towpaths and lots of parkland.

Cereal Killer Cafe is on Brick Lane in Bethnal Green - not really too close, but easy enough to get to (you can probably take the Central Line from Stratford and walk the remaining bit).

[JaxAvondale]

You are correct! Stratford is the Olympic site and new residences. I was referring to the neighborhoods close by. There are a lot of interesting buildings (West Ham, Bromley, and etc) once you walk behind the bus station.

[Adam White]

You are correct! Stratford is the Olympic site and new residences. I was referring to the neighborhoods close by. There are a lot of interesting buildings (West Ham, Bromley, and etc) once you walk behind the bus station.

There's a lot of housing, shops, etc in Stratford that pre-date the Olympic stuff - it's just a bit east of the Olympic site. I never really rated West Ham, Bow or any of those places. I guess they're kind of interesting to wander around, though. Lots of council estates and kebab shops, betting shops, chicken cottage, etc.

[bencrix]

I've read a little about the development in that neighborhood. I'll be in London in October. I plan on spending some time in that area to see the stadium and the surrounding area up close.

Take some pics and post to MJ - would be a great article.

I'm fascinated about how these big stadium projects are occurring w/ more frequency in Europe and how they differ from how professional sports development occurs in the U.S.

From my naive perspective, it seems as though the "free-market" American system requires much more public subsidy w/ far less public benefit. The Tottenham project, for example, seems to involve far more private risk and investment in non-sports amenities. Would be interest to learn to what degree that is actually true / not true.

[Adam White]

I've read a little about the development in that neighborhood. I'll be in London in October. I plan on spending some time in that area to see the stadium and the surrounding area up close.

Take some pics and post to MJ - would be a great article.

I'm fascinated about how these big stadium projects are occurring w/ more frequency in Europe and how they differ from how professional sports development occurs in the U.S.

From my naive perspective, it seems as though the "free-market" American system requires much more public subsidy w/ far less public benefit. The Tottenham project, for example, seems to involve far more private risk and investment in non-sports amenities. Would be interest to learn to what degree that is actually true / not true.

Which is an interesting contrast to the West Ham deal, where they get a stadium that was a) built with public money, b) converted into a football stadium with public money, c) maintained with public money and d) leased to them at below-market rates.

The Northumberland Development Project, by comparison, is currently to be funded exclusively with private monies (though I think Spurs have applied for regional growth funding).

They've not built too much yet - I think there are a few non-stadium things that have been completed (like a new Sainsbury's). The West Ham stadium is almost finished and I think they've even sold out all the season tickets.

[JaxAvondale]

I've read a little about the development in that neighborhood. I'll be in London in October. I plan on spending some time in that area to see the stadium and the surrounding area up close.

Take some pics and post to MJ - would be a great article.

I'm fascinated about how these big stadium projects are occurring w/ more frequency in Europe and how they differ from how professional sports development occurs in the U.S.

From my naive perspective, it seems as though the "free-market" American system requires much more public subsidy w/ far less public benefit. The Tottenham project, for example, seems to involve far more private risk and investment in non-sports amenities. Would be interest to learn to what degree that is actually true / not true.

Which is an interesting contrast to the West Ham deal, where they get a stadium that was a) built with public money, b) converted into a football stadium with public money, c) maintained with public money and d) leased to them at below-market rates.

The Northumberland Development Project, by comparison, is currently to be funded exclusively with private monies (though I think Spurs have applied for regional growth funding).

They've not built too much yet - I think there are a few non-stadium things that have been completed (like a new Sainsbury's). The West Ham stadium is almost finished and I think they've even sold out all the season tickets.

West Ham has sold out their season tickets for next season.

[Adam White]

West Ham has sold out their season tickets for next season.

Yeah, that's what I was saying. Though I was at Westfield a couple weeks ago and they seemed to still be doing a steady business at the ticket office. Don't know what that's all about...

[bencrix]

Is financing of Chelsea's new stadium scheme more along the lines of Spurs or WHU? (Wish they could have pulled off that Battersea Power Station idea...)

[Adam White]

Is financing of Chelsea's new stadium scheme more along the lines of Spurs or WHU? (Wish they could have pulled off that Battersea Power Station idea...)

I think Roman Abramovitch is paying for it.

[bencrix]

Shoulda known. Good for them.