Jonathan David

[Gian-Luca]

PSG lost to Lyon so Lille are actually top of the table, on goal difference over Lyon. Extremely tight at the top though, 3 pts separate the top 5 teams.....

[SthMelbRed]

Ajax in the Europa League Round of 32.

[Mikmacdo]

Tough matchup. Ajax has some really good CBs to matchup with. 

[Snowcrash]

11 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said:

Tough matchup. Ajax has some really good CBs to matchup with. 

They're all tough matchups when you're in the unseeded pool but Lille dodged a bullet by avoiding some of the powerhouse teams from EPL, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga.

[red card]

The kid is doing okay

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by red card

[narduch]

With Lille battling for the tile I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on the history of Ligue 1.

Lille last one the title in 2010-11 with a squad that included Eden Hazard.

France doesn't really have any Juve type teams that have perpetually dominated. Marseile and St. Etienne are tied for the most wins at 10.

But they have teams that have dominated decades/multiple years. (PSG from 2012-present, Lyon won 7 straight titles starting in 2001-02, Marseille won 4 straight titles in the 80's, St. Etienne was dominant from 66-76).

[El Diego]

29 minutes ago, narduch said:

With Lille battling for the tile I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on the history of Ligue 1.

Lille last one the title in 2010-11 with a squad that included Eden Hazard.

France doesn't really have any Juve type teams that have perpetually dominated. Marseile and St. Etienne are tied for the most wins at 10.

But they have teams that have dominated decades/multiple years. (PSG from 2012-present, Lyon won 7 straight titles starting in 2001-02, Marseille won 4 straight titles in the 80's, St. Etienne was dominant from 66-76).

I believe that Lille side in 2010-11 was the one that broke the 7 year streak of Lyon. That Lyon team with (former Red Bull!) Juninho Pernambucano were a joy to watch.

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

With Lille battling for the tile I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on the history of Ligue 1.

Lille last one the title in 2010-11 with a squad that included Eden Hazard.

France doesn't really have any Juve type teams that have perpetually dominated. Marseile and St. Etienne are tied for the most wins at 10.

But they have teams that have dominated decades/multiple years. (PSG from 2012-present, Lyon won 7 straight titles starting in 2001-02, Marseille won 4 straight titles in the 80's, St. Etienne was dominant from 66-76).

Marseille could have endured longer but they were caught in the bribery scandal of '92, with club president Bernard Tapie jailed. And l'OM were relegated to second tier, which essentially stopped that dynasty. 

Marseille and Lyon have the stadiums and fan bases to be at the top always. Monaco can't fill their venue and for me are less solid a rival. 

PSG is a phantom team. They are newcomers, have not won that much and are not the premium side historically or for fan base. IMO as soon as another top flight team appears in Ile de France with a decent stadium and wealthy owner, along with the main rivals in France just holding up their quality and consistency, the PSG story will end. 

[Kent]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

France doesn't really have any Juve type teams that have perpetually dominated. Marseile and St. Etienne are tied for the most wins at 10.

You got me curious so I looked it up. You weren't kidding! Very evenly spread out. 2 teams with 10 championships, one with 9, two with 8, one with 7, three with 6, and two more with 5. 11 clubs with at least 5 championships and none more than 10. 28 different champions out of 107 total seasons played.

For comparison, England has 3 clubs with at least 10 championships (20, 19, and 13) and a total of 8 clubs with at least 5 championships, and 24 clubs with at least 1 championship out of 121 total seasons played.

[An Observer]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Marseille could have endured longer but they were caught in the bribery scandal of '92, with club president Bernard Tapie jailed. And l'OM were relegated to second tier, which essentially stopped that dynasty. 

Marseille and Lyon have the stadiums and fan bases to be at the top always. Monaco can't fill their venue and for me are less solid a rival. 

PSG is a phantom team. They are newcomers, have not won that much and are not the premium side historically or for fan base. IMO as soon as another top flight team appears in Ile de France with a decent stadium and wealthy owner, along with the main rivals in France just holding up their quality and consistency, the PSG story will end. 

From what I understand, the rise of PSG has swept Paris and permeates all of the arrondissements.  Their stadium may be just outside the city proper but it’s only a few stops from the ile de France.  You can be there in 20 minutes from your seat.  I have done it myself and it was amazing to me to be in the heart of Paris having a beer on a terrace so quickly. 

Plus, there is no where to build a stadium in any of the arrondissements no matter the ile de France. 

[Obinna]

I was in Paris back in 2014 and PSG seemed pretty popular to me. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

10 minutes ago, An Observer said:

From what I understand, the rise of PSG has swept Paris and permeates all of the arrondissements.  Their stadium may be just outside the city proper but it’s only a few stops from the ile de France.  You can be there in 20 minutes from your seat.  I have done it myself and it was amazing to me to be in the heart of Paris having a beer on a terrace so quickly. 

Plus, there is no where to build a stadium in any of the arrondissements no matter the ile de France. 

I'm aware of the stadium situation, which is historical of course: Paris grew without neighbourhood football teams. So this cuts into finding what you'd see in London, where there is a lot to choose from. 

Paris FC is in 2nd division, they play in an old stadium at the south edge of the city, where there are sports and athletics organisation headquarters. It could be redone and the track removed. Red Star, the old communist party team, play in the extreme north edge. Both potential rivals are as far out and weakly linked to clear fan base as PSG (which is the team of the new money in Paris, they have a bit of Chelsea about them). So no neighbourhood football in Paris, and even in the environs, and hard to draw fans to teams not tied to some identity.

[cronaldo7]

I'm sure most of you have watched this, but good reminder of what David is. A pure finisher.

What are your initial thoughts when you watch this?

Couple of mine:

1. David is a lot bulkier now. We know he has packed on some muscle but he looked a lot more agile and fleet-footed about a year ago. 

2. As we know, Gent plays a completely different style and a lot of his finishes are situations that I rarely see him in while wearing a Lille jersey. 

Watching his performances at Lille have been disheartening at times but a great reminder of who he is as a player. I'd recommend giving it a watch, even if you've watched it before.

[Alex]

The good news is that Lille play last place Dijon tomorrow. They only have 1 win in 14. Hopefully this game can be a real confidence builder for him. 

 

[dyslexic nam]

Game on One Soccer as usual (but not in French on TV5). 

[saladroit]

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by saladroit

[baulderdash77]

This is not good news.  In actually worried the OneSoccer problems are going to sink both French and Canadian soccer

[Weng]

34 minutes ago, baulderdash77 said:

This is not good news.  In actually worried the OneSoccer problems are going to sink both French and Canadian soccer

I wonder if the CSA has been having to prop up the CPL financially if OneSoccer has not lived up to its end of payments.  Maybe that’s why there have been no friendlies?  

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, baulderdash77 said:

This is not good news.  In actually worried the OneSoccer problems are going to sink both French and Canadian soccer

I just want to say I feel really bad for all the fine folks at One Soccer.

Gareth Wheeler looked particularly frustrated, if not infuriated, in one of the panels most recent videos, where he criticized the Federal Government for blocking the MLS teams from playing at home in 2021. I really felt his pain, while Platt and Patrello looked pretty dejected as well. Their jobs are surely under threat and the Federal government is going to put these people out of work if they keep this up.

But do you know what? At the same time I am very surprised they are only now being critical. I mean, the writing was on the wall, wasn't it? I never quite got people's optimism that somehow 2021 was going to magically be fine. The time to put pressure on was back in March, not in December.

Better late than never I guess, and maybe I am wrong and somehow they work it out, but I said it before and I will say it again, our MLS teams are being needlessly put under threat and if we don't wake up and snap out of this delusion and fight for them, we will lose them forever!

I hope I am wrong.

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 12/14/2020 at 5:42 PM, El Diego said:

I believe that Lille side in 2010-11 was the one that broke the 7 year streak of Lyon. That Lyon team with (former Red Bull!) Juninho Pernambucano were a joy to watch.

Ya...nooo. There is a Marseille title in there somewhere

1 hour ago, baulderdash77 said:

This is not good news.  In actually worried the OneSoccer problems are going to sink both French and Canadian soccer

They could sink both.

There is a big speculative bubble that popped.

https://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/lifestyle/10392726-tv-deal-collapse-french-soccer-clubs-face-uncertai.html

[Lansdude]

Wait, someone explain the relationship between OneSoccer, Canadian soccer, and French soccer/Lille.

[Watchmen]

4 hours ago, saladroit said:

 

I wonder if they'll look to sell David.  This isn't a complete comment on his play and a bunch of his numbers are still strong, but it also hasn't been the smoothest transition either.  I just wonder if, in an effort to pay down some of that debt, they attempt to see if any of the interested parties from the summer are still interested.

[Watchmen]

3 minutes ago, Lansdude said:

Wait, someone explain the relationship between OneSoccer, Canadian soccer, and French soccer/Lille.

MediaPro (which owns OneSoccer) is in major financial trouble.  Missed payments to the French league, have forfeited the rights, but still has to pay them some fixed amounts.  That (might) put their deal with the CPL/CSA/CSB in jeopardy.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

14 minutes ago, Lansdude said:

Wait, someone explain the relationship between OneSoccer, Canadian soccer, and French soccer/Lille.

MediaPro is a Spanish company that got its €€€ from a Chinese private equity firm called Orient Hontai Capital.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediapro

This Spanish company owns:

-OneSoccer (OneSoccer is of course the source of a lot of the money going into CanPL)

-the broadcast rights for Ligue1 in many regions of the world including Canada and France. They will lose these broadcast rights in a manner of weeks or months because they have defaulted on their payments. 

Lille OSC (which was  already in debt) and all other French clubs will lose plenty of money as a result of this default. Their budget projections were based on the revenue from this deal. They are all now unexpectedly millions of €€€ in the red.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

Gareth Wheeler looked particularly frustrated, if not infuriated, in one of the panels most recent videos, where he criticized the Federal Government for blocking the MLS teams from playing at home in 2021. I really felt his pain, while Platt and Patrello looked pretty dejected as well. Their jobs are surely under threat and the Federal government is going to put these people out of work if they keep this up.

Their jobs may be under threat, but whether MLS returns to cross border play or not has nothing to do with it.  One Soccer doesn't broadcast MLS, and they're fully capable of commenting on the games wherever they're played.  The Federal government has nothing to do with them.