Ian Nicholas Quillen

Soccer (#MLS, #USMNT, #EPL) writer, editor, handicapper (@ForbesSports, @GiveMeSport, @FieldLevelMedia). Baltimoron. Opinions here are obvious or misguided.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

How can #MLS make a fall-to-spring schedule work for #CFMTL, #TorontoFC, #NERevs, #MNUFC, #cf97 and other clubs in cold winter climates?

It's actually not that hard. The season just won't look like the EPL or La Liga.

My latest for @ForbesSports: https://t.co/G1wU3mANa3

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

I could've slept tonight. Instead, I wrote about how the simmering trash talk between #USMNT and #Socceroos ahead of their Friday clash actually stems from an unusual amount in common.

My latest for @ForbesSports:

https://t.co/5CzSWVaYq9

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@RyanRosenblatt There's also only 6 pot 4 spots that aren't inter-continental playoffs.

Panama is probably better than 6 of the direct qualifiers. Probably.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

No feeling in the world like celebrating an away goal.

[Ace Humphreys 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🦢 @Ace109610]

Couple of Congo fans celebrated the equaliser in front of Portugal fans 😂
Inject it into my veins 🩵
#FIFAWorldCup

[Ross McCafferty @RossMcCaff]

Sensational

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

Credit where its due to #FIFA which has give us an Austria-Jordan midnight start, which really is the World Cup equivalent of a 1990s WAC college basketball tipoff

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@sgevans Aussies also called it easy IIRC?

[Nate Tice @Nate_Tice]

still discussions about "what if the United States best athletes played soccer" and there's a 6'2" son of an NFL WR starting and flourishing for the team.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@NateSilver538 @conorsen It kind of has the feel of a very large version of the Olympic Ice Hokcey tournament, which suffers from the same problem in the preliminary stages.

That said, I think we may also see some teams less sure of their places than we would've guessed heading into Matchday 3.

[Leyla Hamed @leylahamed]

The gap between the “big teams” and everyone else is getting smaller every year.

[We Good in the North @WWFerguson2]

The World Cup outpouring we're seeing is just the best example of how desperate and hungry a huge swath of Americans are for wanting to be part of the international community, again. It's practically palpable.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@LechMazur @NateSilver538 I don't mind -- or maybe even favor -- the idea of smaller swiss league groups. Eight groups of six with two pot 1, pot 2 and pot 3 teams. Everyone plays one opponent in each pot. Top 3 advance, with group winner getting a bye.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@LechMazur @NateSilver538 The reason you need group is actually as much about scheduling as it is about competitive structure. If you play one true huge swiss league stage you need to play 24 simultaneous matches on MD 3, and then have at least 3 days dark before the knockout phase begins.

[Nick Volpe @nvolpewild]

Ivory Coast becomes the FIRST team in this World Cup to win whilst having LESS Bird species than their opposition! 😲

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@RorySmith @paddytim This actually makes me think about (American) country music, which exploded in popularity right as the USA reached the tipping point of being a majority urban nation. The diaspora World Cup is also a nostalgia one.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@affwallace @chris_sutton73 Have always thought this! Similar design/layout.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

Croatia, Peru, arguably Argentina.

[Rilwan @Real1_balogun]

Is there a jersey as unique as Netherlands’ orange?

It’s specifically theirs. I don’t think another country wears that.

Japan looks like Scotland from afar. Saudi can look like Nigeria sometimes.

Brazil looks like South Africa. Spain can look like Morocco sometimes.

With others, you can confuse them. But that Oranje is uniquely orange.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@aoluwatayo047 @Real1_balogun Cant believe it took so long for someone to mention this!

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

Yes

[Ben Crellin @BenCrellin]

Are Americans incapable of organising sporting fixtures so they start on the hour?

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@Rick___Smith @NateSilver538 lol. fair point. Portugal is just so much better though.

[Ian Nicholas Quillen @IaqDiesel]

@StokeyyG2 I think it's also not so much that Paraguay is that bad so much as they're clearly not constructed to play from behind.