David Beckham's MLS 2020

[gunnar hendershow]

4 hours ago, GoGo Yubari said:

This thread has a good breakdown of what exactly happened during that shootout. Truly crazy stuff, even for MLS:

 

I saw when checking the match statistics that Orlando's keeper got a red in the 129th minute and I was like "how the absolute fuck?"

[Colly]

Dale Johnson covers the rule clarifications a bit better.

 

[Szumi]

MLS in following rules no one else does shocker! If we would've just settled the match on 35 yard shootouts like in the good old days, this never would've happened!

[gunnar hendershow]

These playoffs have been wild so far.

[GoGo Yubari]

Tim Melia now has a 58% success rate for stopping penalties after shutting out the Quakes today. Jeeeeeez.

also the Timbers are out. A good day.

[Lineker]

Quote

A former intern at New York City FC says she was sexually harassed by David Villa, and the club failed to take her complaints seriously.

Skyler Badillo came into contact with the former Barcelona and Spain striker while working with the MLS club’s training staff as part of her college degree.

Badillo, who was 20 when she joined the team, says Villa told her repeatedly that he loved her and touched her inappropriately. She says Villa, who played for NYC FC from 2014 to 2018, also offered her alcohol when she was under the legal drinking age.

“He started asking me what kind of alcohol I drink, which … I was 20 years old at the time,” she told The Athletic in a lengthy interview published on Monday. “I was like ‘I don’t really drink.’ He was asking ‘well, what kind of alcohol should I buy’ so that I would come to his apartment for a party. I looked at [NYC FC assistant trainer] Melvyn [Pamplona] and said ‘I don’t think this is a good conversation to be having,’ sort of hoping that he would help me out. And his response was just [to say] ‘well it was just a question.’”

A spokesperson for Villa told The Athletic that Badillo’s allegations are “untrue”.

“While David has never faced this type of issue before, he appreciates the seriousness of this matter and believes it is important to encourage people to speak out about their concerns,” said the spokesperson. “When David first learned of this situation two years after he had already left the team, he fully cooperated with the investigation and as he has said from the beginning – any allegations of inappropriate behavior are untrue.”

Badillo first made the allegations on her personal Twitter account in the summer. She says she received abuse for those claims, with some saying her encounters with Villa were merely a case of cultural misunderstanding.

“I’ve been to Spain, I’ve been to a lot of other countries. I’m Puerto Rican. They kiss on the cheek, they hug. That’s not the same thing,” Badillo told The Athletic. “I had athletes who kissed me on the cheek every morning because they asked if that was OK. And that was fine. The insinuation that I just don’t understand cultural barriers is weird, because I think my first year there we had athletes from 14 different countries. I don’t know how and why it would only be one athlete I had an issue with.”

Badillo says that while many of the staff and players at NYC FC were supportive of her, others did not take her claims seriously. In another incident, she was groped by an older man in the team’s press box. She says two members of club staff laughed when she told them what had happened.

Villa left NYC FC at the end of the 2018 season. The club launched an investigation into Badillo’s allegations this summer and concluded there had been failings in its system, but did not mention Villa by name.

“The allegations made during the course of the investigation were that a small number of players and staff did not act in accordance with the club’s standards in their interactions with the intern and with other club staff,” the club told ESPN earlier this month.

“This behavior included unnecessary physical contact, teasing, and comments regarding clothing and appearance. The club found that this behavior was inappropriate and unacceptable.”

The club added that it “is implementing a series of changes within the organization aimed at ensuring that such behavior does not occur in the future”.

 

[Szumi]

Enter the Playoffs with the best record and home field advantage... And immediately display the flattest performance of the season. No heart, no leadership, no energy, no passion.

#ThatsSoUnion

[GoGo Yubari]

Happy the Sounders won the 83rd and final Sounders/LAFC match of 2020. Dallas next in a rematch of one of the most stressful games I've ever attended in person.

[Meacon Keaton]

8 hours ago, It's Pronounced Zoom-E said:

Enter the Playoffs with the best record and home field advantage... And immediately display the flattest performance of the season. No heart, no leadership, no energy, no passion.

#ThatsSoUnion

I said before the game to my wife “I bet this will be their worst game all year”. I wasn’t not surprised but awfully disappointed. What a lame way to end a great (MLS) year.

[Szumi]

I'm Orlando's biggest fan today. Fuck Bruce Arena.

[GoGo Yubari]

Bruce Arena vs. Caleb Porter in the Eastern Conference finals, a true smug-off for the ages.

[Szumi]

I'll happily take smug Caleb Porter over smug Bruce Arena, but I'm not a Seattle fan 😛

Truthfully, as long as you guys beat FC Dallas, I'm all for another Seattle win. I would totally love Dallas to win though because 1) Fafa Picault 2) Another academy first club 3) Another fun style of play.

So sorry mate, rooting against you tonight 🥰

[gunnar hendershow]

Team anybody from the west

[Szumi]

Greg Vanney has stepped down at Toronto FC. That's pretty shocking. Toronto had a pretty amazing season since they had to keep bouncing back and forth from CT and Canada. Plus, a lot of their marquee signings are never fit it seems like.

[gunnar hendershow]

21 minutes ago, It's Pronounced Zoom-E said:

Greg Vanney has stepped down at Toronto FC. That's pretty shocking. Toronto had a pretty amazing season since they had to keep bouncing back and forth from CT and Canada. Plus, a lot of their marquee signings are never fit it seems like.

He was out of contract after the season and whenever that happens you have to wonder if they have a verbal agreement for a lucrative deal elsewhere.

[GoGo Yubari]

Vanney's almost certainly going to the Galaxy to try and rebuild them, it looks like.

Anyway, on to the Western Conference finals! Dallas is tough, a thing I forgot is that nearly every time we've faced them it's been determined by a goal or less (the away goal tiebreaker year, for example). I hope we get Minnesota, both because it means we get home field and because I just like them.

[Szumi]

On 02/12/2020 at 00:29, GoGo Yubari said:

Vanney's almost certainly going to the Galaxy to try and rebuild them, it looks like.

Anyway, on to the Western Conference finals! Dallas is tough, a thing I forgot is that nearly every time we've faced them it's been determined by a goal or less (the away goal tiebreaker year, for example). I hope we get Minnesota, both because it means we get home field and because I just like them.

You may not like Minnesota after the Conference Finals. They rode their luck big time in the first 15 minutes, but then they just eviscerated SKC. Reynoso is an absolute gem of a signing - my goodness he was worth the wait for Minnesota - and Molino is absolutely recovered from those awful ACL injuries. 

Minnesota is hot, healthy, and a lethal attack. That's going to be a great match.

[GoGo Yubari]

Hah, yeah, I saw that scoreline at the half and raised an eyebrow for sure, you don't see SKC beat up like that often (though their fanbase doesn't seem all that enamored with their defense this year). We'll see what happens.

[gunnar hendershow]

Feels like an oddly short turnaround for Minnesota between this and the Conference Finals.

Should be a good match between them and Seattle. Certainly more excited for it than the Go Refs situation over in the East.

[OctoberRaven]

Honestly I wanted FC Dallas to win for the sole reason that Fafa was part of the 2014 Strikers team that came within fingertips of winning the Soccer Bowl, and "whoever has a former Striker on their team" is going to be my pick in competitions I otherwise have no interest in.

On a side note, this metric is also why my favorite English team is Spennymoor.