Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Thousands of fans clad in blue and black flocked through the streets of Atlanta on Monday, June 16, heading towards Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of a first-round match in the newly reimagined FIFA Club World Cup. The match, between the English Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and American MLS club Los Angeles FC, was the first of six matches slated to be held in Atlanta before the final in New York on July 13.

Soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, has increased the number of clubs in the competition from 7 to 32, all competing to be crowned champions of the world. The tournament is being hosted by the United States, where several stadiums across the country are welcoming clubs from every inhabited continent.

Previous iterations of the tournament were held annually between the sole winners of each of the six regional confederations’ international club competitions, plus a club from the host country. However, as the number of clubs in the competition increased, FIFA changed the competition to be held every four years.

FIFA is also offering a massive $1 billion prize pool, split between clubs based on performance and participation. European teams receive a minimum of $12.81 million, and South American teams receive $15.21 million just for showing up to the competition. Additionally, The Athletic has reported that FIFA has spent over $50 million on marketing to boost ticket sales.

The competition has never been a big presence in world football, with clubs and fans typically viewing it as more of an additional bonus competition after beating their continental rivals, but with these massive changes to the competition and enormous prize pool, it seems that FIFA aims to remake the competition’s reputation and cement it as the premier club competition in the world. FIFA’s objective, however, is far from easy to achieve. 

The new competition format has faced criticism from fans, players and managers alike. One of the biggest criticisms of the tournament is that it adds 63 matches to an already crowded competition calendar.

For European teams, the competition is set at the end of their season, where most compete in three national competitions (national league, national cup and league cup) as well as European competition that can last until the end of May. For several North and South American clubs, the problem can be even worse, as the competition is placed right in the middle of their national season, not to mention the international break immediately preceding the competition, during which many of the top players are called up to represent their nations.

This schedule is grueling for players and takes away from the training time that the clubs’ national rivals are currently enjoying, potentially harming their current or upcoming season.

“I think it will have a huge impact, and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” said Thomas Tuchel, the English national team manager, on how the two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be affected by the competition.

Perhaps more concerning for FIFA is the low fan adoption of the tournament. At the match last Monday, only 22,137 seats of Mercedes-Benz’s 71,000 capacity were filled, and the lack of attendance is not just in Atlanta. According to the BBC, over 400,000 seats have been left empty so far at Club World Cup matches across the country.

Some matches, however, have been able to draw large crowds, including the match between European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, as well as the opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly. Matches featuring Mexican and South American teams have also had higher attendance, potentially indicating more investment from these clubs, who feel like they have something to prove against favored European clubs. Still, stadiums struggle to reach capacity at any of these games.

Despite the poor attendance and controversy, the match last Monday between Chelsea and LAFC was a decent showing from both teams, but perhaps not the superbly dominating performance many would have expected from Chelsea.

The first 30 minutes of the match saw Chelsea hold on to the bulk of possession and force a few hasty saves from ex-Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was once again under pressure from old rivals. The scoring opened after Cole Palmer connected with Nicolas Jackson on the halfway line, who himself played a precise pass toward Pedro Neto to beat LAFC left-back Ryan Hollingshead. Neto navigated past defenders sliding in and chose to smash it in the bottom right corner instead of passing to Marc Cucurella waiting at the far post. Chelsea 1, LAFC 0.

Despite going down, the outnumbered LAFC supporters remained in full voice throughout the match, with Chelsea unable to quiet them. Even with the proliferation of blue jerseys, Chelsea fans remained relatively quiet throughout the match.

The first half culminated in Chelsea racking up all but 1 of the 10 shots of the match. In response, LAFC head coach Steven Cherundolo replaced striker Jeremy Ebobisse with former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, and Chelsea brought on Malo Gusto and Enzo Fernández.

LAFC were able to put up a bit more offense in the second half with their first clean-cut attempt on goal in the 57th minute, which Robert Sánchez was forced to kick away. In the 64th minute, Chelsea brought on their newly acquired signing, Liam Delap, who was met with much anticipation from the crowd, and he quickly justified his £30 million fee.

In the 79th minute, Palmer played Delap through on the right wing, who turned and played an arching cross towards Fernández. Fernández took a touch under pressure before poking it past Lloris. Chelsea 2, LAFC 0.

LAFC was able to rebound with a couple of excellent attempts, including in the 81st minute when Denis Bouanga made contact with Malo Gusto inside the penalty box in front of the LAFC supporters, eliciting shouts for a penalty, but VAR quickly checked and cleared the play.

Chelsea held on to their 2-0 lead until full-time, earning three valuable points to draw level with Brazilian side Flamengo in Group D of the competition. The match itself was emblematic of the tournament as a whole. Both sides had moments of quality, but ultimately, there wasn’t much that got fans out of their seats.

Chelsea went on to lose 3-1 in a second-half collapse to Flamengo in their second match, which saw the Brazilian side secure their place in the knockout stage, while LAFC lost 1-0 to Tunisian side Espérance, knocking LAFC out of the competition.

These results set up an enticing final round in Group D, where Espérance takes on Chelsea on Tuesday, June 24, both sides even on three points. It must be said: Chelsea is the favorite, but after their collapse against Flamengo, they will need to bounce back in this lose-and-go-home battle.

The post Atlanta hosts calendar-cramming Club World Cup appeared first on Technique.

Half a mile north of Main Campus lies the Georgia Tech Student Competition Center (SCC), home to seven different racing teams run entirely by Tech students who design, build and drive cars competing in competitions all over the country. GT Motorsport, one of the teams in the SCC, returned from competition last month, having achieved an impressive feat, placing third overall from a field of 107 teams competing in the international Formula SAE Michigan competition. 

The Technique spoke with Alexander Merryman, fourth-year BA & NEUR and GT Motorsports team lead, about the work that went into attending the competition, how he views the organization that he leads and his goals for the team going forward.

Preparing for a competition like the Formula SAE Michigan took years of work and dedication from GT Motorsport’s members and their leadership team. Merryman explained that GT Motorsports operates on a two-year design cycle, meaning the work on their 2025 car, which they just returned from competition with, started in Fall 2023.

This two-year design cycle can give the team a competitive advantage over teams that operate on a one-year cycle by allowing more time for performance tests and subsequent adjustments before heading to competition. The extra time also helps handle problems with the car, which are inevitable.

Their 2025 car was finished in December, but shortly after, while the car was in storage overnight, the water used in the engine for cooling froze, expanded and cracked the car’s engine block, setting the team back several weeks.

After the repairs, GT Motorsports was able to test and configure their car until the competition in May, recording about 250 miles on the car, using the dormant Six Flags parking lot as a testing site before race day. Compared to a road car, 250 miles may not seem like a lot, but for a student-built race car, every mile is rich with valuable information that helps fine-tune the car. This amount of testing allows the team to deliver on one of their goals to have a boring competition.

“We want a boring competition, which means nothing’s going wrong,” Merryman said.“We did all the work up front that we needed to do, and we did things the right way so we could go to Michigan to compete. We have exciting moments, like when we do very well, but there’s no crazy surprise like needing to replace an engine or something.” 

During the life cycle of the car, the GT Motorsports team splits up into subsystems, each with its own area of focus for the vehicle. For example, the aerodynamic team will focus on how air flows around the car to decrease drag and increase downforce, while the chassis team will focus on the underlying framework of the car.

Naturally, each subsystem team will have its own priorities for what it would like to test in the car with limited resources, so team leaders must work together to decide what is the most valuable use of testing time to achieve the ultimate result they want. According to Merryman, this is one of the ways that their work can provide experience to those who plan to enter a similar auto manufacturing industry.

“[For] the structure of the dynamics work, the design process is similar to what you might experience somewhere else,” Merryman said. “I’m always very happy that our leads and numbers are so fantastic that they get internships.”  

Performing well at the competition this year was crucial for the team’s long-term goals, especially following a disappointing showing last year, when the team placed 60th. Merryman said that the team has historically performed fairly cyclically, earning a good result about every four years, while in other years, performance has slid. However, Merryman sees a different vision for the team.

He hopes to break this cycle and keep GT Motorsports consistently performing at the top with some of the best schools in the country. This result was the first step towards that, bouncing back from a disappointing showing the previous year and beating their top-seven performance from two years ago.

“We want to be one of the teams that is always in the top 10,” Merryman said. “If we could always win each year that would be awesome, but realistically, we always want to be in the top 10. There’s not really a reason why we shouldn’t be if we do a good job of building on our momentum.” 

Competing is not just about going the fastest; at competition, judges score the car over eight categories, including cost, design, endurance and efficiency, but more important than just getting to the competitions is staying in business. It can become very costly to manufacture, test and transport the car to competition, so GT Motorsports relies heavily on sponsors, including General Motors and Ford, who help the team afford these expenses and provide students with these skill-building experiences. 

Going forward, Merryman hopes the team will continue to build better cars, perform well at their annual competition and avoid complacency from a great result. He believes that to continue building and learning, it starts with getting the right people doing what they love.

“I think one thing I always remind myself is that it is people that build a car, and that we really do have amazing people on this team that put in a lot of work, and I’m hoping they’re seeing all their hard work pay off,” Merryman said. “I’m a strong believer in putting the right people in place first, making sure the people are happy with what they’re doing, they’re doing what they want to do, and they’re operating in the right way, and then the rest follows you.” 

If you would like to learn more or get involved with GT Motorsport, you can find their website here, www.gtms.gatech.edu and their Instagram here, @georgiatech.motorsports.

The post Club spotlight: GT Motorsports appeared first on Technique.

I’ve got a gripe with stop signs: they are everywhere, but they aren’t always necessary. At the vast majority of intersections in America without  a traffic light or roundabout, there is at least one stop sign instructing drivers to come to a full and complete stop before continuing on their way. But we don’t always need to stop, and drivers already know it.

We’ve all seen it. Drivers rolling through stop signs, flaunting the standards their driving instructor told them to do at every intersection, come to a full stop and wait for three seconds, even if there is no other traffic in the intersection. Many drivers are rolling through, stopping briefly, or otherwise passing through the intersection after assessing the safety of entering —that’s the critical component. 

Even though we might not always come to a full stop, we know it is dangerous to blatantly run a stop sign at full speed. Under good conditions, at most intersections, it is relatively straightforward to assess the safety of entering the intersection by simply slowing down and observing the surroundings without coming to a complete stop; however, the law disagrees.

I recently got a ticket for rolling through a stop sign. When I ran the stop sign, it was around 11 p.m., there was no other traffic or pedestrians, and I had a clear view of the intersection and its surroundings. I had enough knowledge to proceed through the intersection safely. Why should I be penalized when I made an informed decision about my safety and the safety of my fellow road users? I was ordered to appear at the Atlanta Municipal Court or pay a $200 fine, even though I didn’t put anyone at risk.

Drivers know it is dangerous to continue at full speed through an intersection with a stop sign, and drivers can visually assess the safety of an intersection before entering it. The stop sign does not do much more for drivers than notify them of an upcoming intersection, and drivers easily ignore the stop instruction. 

Instead, stop signs should be used to indicate that at the upcoming intersection, there is an additional reason why a driver should come to a stop, like a blind curve, an unsighted hill or an unconventional intersection. If stop signs were limited to these situations, it would make their message, “STOP,” stronger than ever before. Rather than being blinded by the quantity of stop signs, I would be more likely to comply when I saw a stop sign because I would know that it really was necessary.

The replacement of many stop signs on the road currently depends on the type of intersection they are located at. Stop signs typically come in two varieties: minor-road-only and multi-way stop control. Minor-road-only stop signs are at intersections where a minor road intersects with a more heavily traveled road. The stop signs inform drivers of the minor road that they must yield to the traffic on the major road. Multi-way stop signs are typically located at the intersection of roads of equal importance, directing drivers to stop from every direction of approach. In each of these cases, there is rarely a need to come to a complete stop to determine if it is safe to enter.

At minor-road-only intersections, stop signs could easily be replaced by yield signs, allowing drivers to determine the safety of entering the intersection and proceeding without stopping if able. 

Replacements become a little trickier for multi-way stop signs. In many cases, it would be possible to designate one of the crossing roads as a main road and use yield signs on the other roads. Installing a roundabout would also be a viable solution here, although it may not always be economically feasible. If there is a situation where a high-traffic intersection requires equal priority in all directions and a roundabout or traffic light is not an option, those intersections could need to remain as four-way stops.

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, an advisory manual published by the Federal Highway Administration,  prescribes that at intersections where it is not necessary to come to a complete stop, “consideration should be given to using less restrictive measures such as YIELD signs,” but states seem to have overestimated where a full stop is necessary. In many situations, it is not.

Decreasing the use of stop signs can also reduce the number of stop-starts while driving and lead to an increase in vehicle efficiency when compounded over millions of drivers. A professor at George Mason University calculated that removing just one stop sign from every four-way stop would result in a decrease of about one billion gallons of gasoline, equivalent to 2.7 days of consumption in America.

Ultimately, though, reducing the number of stop signs is about altering the roadways to better fit how we naturally use them, easing an everyday nuisance in our lives and preventing frivolous tickets for people who are following common-sense safety rules rather than strictly adhering to the law.

The post Stop Signs Are Pointless appeared first on Technique.