I'll probably go but those prices are steep for what will most likely be a U20 match since the regular players will be on holiday after Euro 2024 and Copa America. I was surprised to see this but then remembered Fenway owns Liverpool and the Penguins so maybe this will become a regular thing.
Liverpool in Pgh
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
- Start date
That’s cool. I didn’t realize. Who are they playing? I only follow chelsea so I was just aware of their US matches this summer. As an example, Chelsea play Real Madrid in Charlotte and many of the people around the Queen City are excited. Personally I’m not. I could care less about these matches but do feel that the festivities around town could be fun. But as far as the matches, SMF, Liverpool will field a good team. Big clubs like Liverpool have essentially 2 first teams. They are 25-30 players deep and while they will bring a few other players on the trip, they aren’t bringing many academy players for a US tour.
They're playing Real Betis, which is super random but also kinda cool. I just bought my tickets for it today. I wonder if Betis is cause Johnny Cardoso plays for them. A little sad Klopp will be gone by then and that its Mark Madden's favorite club.
Americans love exhibition U20 Premier League soccer. I would like to not go to this match in Pgh since they are ripping everyone off charging extreme prices for what will basically be a youth match but I feel like I have to go.
Euros and Copa end on July 14. The Liverpool Betis match is on July 26. If Columbia, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay all reach the semifinal…then Becker, Diaz, Nunez and MacAllister won’t be playing as they’ll need a few weeks holiday before joining up with Liverpool for the preseason. It will be easy for them to join up with Liverpool eventually because they will already be here due to Copa. But July 26 is a bit too soon. If England makes a run to the Euro final as expected, and Trent is playing for them, the same goes for him. But he will never join up with Liverpool for the US tour. Even if he comes off holiday he will probably report to Liverpools training facility in England and train on his own and with the academy players.
Chelsea’s friendly in Charlotte vs Madrid is around Aug 6. That gives 3 weeks of holiday for any players who reach the finals of Copa or Euros. And even longer for players eliminated sooner. It will essentially be full squads.
These matches are normally packed with first teamers. I remember when Chelsea was on the US tour two summers ago, they had a starting 11 for their game in Vegas vs Club America and then at halftime brought in essentially an entire new 11. And it was all first teamers. The next game was vs FC Charlotte and you’d figure that they’d play young guys vs the MLS team. They didn’t. They did the same thing. Then when they played Arsenal a couple nights later in Orlando, both Chelsea and Arsenal played all their 1st teamers.
Best bet is to buy tickets for August matches. Bottom line is I wouldn’t expect any players to cross the pond from countries who made deep runs at Euro 2024. But some Copa players may play…it just depends on timing. But the bottom line is we aren’t talking about the entire squad…we are just talking about small handful of players per team at most.
Cheapest tickets are $40. Not that much more than the cheapest non supporters section tickets for the Riverhounds. I thought they'd be more, even if a bunch of their best players aren't playing.
My hope is that some players will use America as their holiday spot and thus make it much easier to make it here for the game.
I don't think any Euro 2024 or Copa America players will play in Pgh regardless of how early their team was knocked out.
Marco Reus was on the German squad for the World Cup and was able to make the bench for the Dortmund game at Heinz Field. That may be a possible timeline for the guys on teams that exit early.
Copa players may be more likely because they'll already be here.
It'll also depend on the makeup of the Liverpool roster at the time. If Salah is still there, he could get a half.
In Europe, they are astounded that these teams would schedule something when almost all of their roster players will be off on international duty. MARTA, the big Real Madrid mouthpiece paper in Spain, said the attendance will prove just how gullible Americans are.
And I know better and I'll still go. I feel bad for the people, especially the kids who think they are going to see their favorite stars.
Have fun! I won’t be going. Lol. It is possible I’ll go to the game in Charlotte in August but again I prefer the festivities over the match itself. When Chelsea was in Charlotte 2 years ago, I was in Hilton Head. If it had worked out for me logistically, I’d have gone to Neil Barnett’s (the London based SiriusXM host) beer guzzling meet in greet at one of the fine Charlotte watering holes.
Personally I have a hard time identifying w this current chelsea squad anyway.
it’s not bait and switch. People are going to know who is rostered for the US tour and who isn’t.
And as far as Mike’s Spanish paper’s comments…well it’s not gullible Americans. Americans will root for the crest on the front of the jersey regardless of who shows up to play. Because they don’t get to see their team in person very often.
I know at Chelsea, our roster isn’t exactly bangin with international players. We have 4 potential English players (James, Chillwell, Gallagher and Palmer). But 2 of them are always hurt and the other two don’t see normal minutes for England so they may not even get selected. Then we have some fringe Euro players who will be out of Euros early and should report to the US training camp. We have a couple South American players like Enzo Fernandez who surely will miss much of the preseason because he’s a key player for Argentina, and Moises Caicedo from Equador who will likely join Chelsea’s summer camp in the US at some point and then play in games.
Chelsea fans will see plenty of their first teamers. Maybe some other fan bases of better teams won’t. But their rosters are deep enough where they’ll see plenty of their guys.
Do they think this is a new thing? They've had US games in even number years for a while now (I went to one in 2010).
I've had fun at the games I've gone to and I look forward to going this year too
As long as people know what they are paying for, they obviously can spend as much as they want. The question is how many spectators will expect to see the Real Madrid team that played Manchester City on Tuesday.
MARTA said that 21 Real Madrid players will likely be on international duty, including almost every starter. The only players who see significant minutes who might be available would be Joselu, Modric and Kroos. Kroos and Modric both have hinted about retiring from international play. However, both already have played in Euro qualifiers. And, Joselu is on loan from Espanol so he might not even be with Real Madrid in the Summer. Endrick hasn’t seen much time, but is the next supposed Brazilian superstar. However, he is only 17 and might not make the Brazilian team. So the newspaper said anyone who pays to see Real Madrid will very likely see mostly the B team, which plays in the Spanish Third Division.
For Barcelona, it all is a question of who makes the Spanish squad. My guess would be that Inigo Martinez, Sergi Roberto, Fermin Lopez and Oriol Romeu will not, so they will be available. Otherwise, there will be lots of players who had a cup of coffee with the team this year but who primarily have been on Barcelona Atletic, the B team. I went to one Atletic match this year and it was fun, and the quality of play on Barcelona’s end was pretty good. The tickets were $23, (about $100 less than Barca tickets) but the stadium is out past the airport, too far to frequent on a regular basis.
I imagine the Premier League teams will have more regulars available because a lot of them are English and the majority won’t make the England squad.
Betis is super popular in Spain. People left Andalusia for jobs in northern Spain but raised their kids as Betis fans. They are Seville’s working class team (as opposed to Sevilla FC) and among the most passionate fanbases in Europe.
I would estimate that 80%-90% of the people who buy tickets for this dont realize that the Euro and South American players wont be there. There will be some true Liverpool supporters for sure but the majority of the crowd will be local soccer fans who dont pay close attention to the soccer calendar.
And if those people don’t know, then they wouldn’t know the difference between Virgil Van Dijk and Virgil from the WWF either. They will be happy just to see Liverpool play a game.
Its not that I think they'll be terribly disappointed because after all, they'll still see guys wearing Liverpool uniforms, even if its their youth squad they are watching. But I do think there will be some level of surprise that those guys arent there at all. These are American pro sports fans who figure while Van Dijk wont play a full game, maybe he goes 20-45 minutes. They dont realize he wont even be on the continent.
Liverpool doesn't have any Messi level famous players that people will be disappointed if they don't see. The closest is Salah and there's a decent chance he'll play if he's still on their roster
I’ve been to a few European team offseason exhibitions over the years. I feel like even if the A team players aren’t there it’s still fun to see the fans show up decked out in international soccer gear and attempting a chant or song. And even if it’s their U-20s, you’ll still see some fairly high quality football,
Again though…SMF saying it’s their u20’s doesn’t make it so. The big clubs who the fans here support have enough players in their senior squad that they aren’t going to roster many academy players. Furthermore it’s odd that this thread even exists, given the guy who started it has no problem paying money to see a bunch of no names in a Wrexham jersey. Why wouldnt people be happy watching a world renowned club like Liverpool if 5 of their players are on holiday?
I've never seen Wrexham play. And 5 Liverpool players? They will only have 2 or 3 players out of their Top 20-25.
I don't know who you consider their top 20-25 players (I don't follow Liverpool closely) but just going with their roster listed on Wikipedia, I count 5 players who play for countries that won't be in the Euros/Copa this summer, plus whichever of their young players don't make the England team. All of this subject to change of course as the roster changes this summer.
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