Soccer Thread 2009-10

[BishopMVP]

Ching gets the start over Altidore, Cherundolo over Spector. No real surprises. I assume Blanco from Mexico will also be getting pulled for Vela early 2nd half - he played a full 90 3 days ago in 90+ heat.

[Cringer]

Charlie Davies baby!

[Sublime 2]

Originally Posted by Cringer

Charlie Davies baby!

NH Pride baby!

[Galaril]

I love how Mexico a day or so befoere the macyh moves it from night to the heat of the afternoon to give the Aztecas another advantage. This is why soccer and the UN will never catch on with Americans

[Cringer]

Mexico kind of controlling possession for a while now. Both center backs having yellows for us sucks.

[Galaril]

Interesting match with 15 minutes left. The link to Teratv is a good one to watch the game streaming.

[Big Fo]

Damn, I thought they might just hold on once it got down to the last few minutes. Despite the close score Mexico dominated possession, our defenders gave it straight back to Mexico almost every time they won the ball. The US defense limited Mexico's chances but shouldn't be making things so hard for themselves. The US barely had the ball in the second half let alone coming close to scoring.

[Cringer]

Disappointing. The U.S. passing was not good and that killed it for us. That just wasn't the best game that team can play, IMO. I won't even bother trying to break down subs and tactics, the players didn't get it done. Oh, and the ref kind of sucked so that didn't help much either.

[Big Fo]

Other results from CONCACAF:

T&T 1-0 El Salvador
Honduras 4-0 Costa Rica

	           Pld 	W 	D 	L 	GF 	GA 	GD 	Pts
 Costa Rica 	6 	4 	0 	2 	9 	9 	0 	12
 Honduras 	6 	3 	1 	2 	10 	6 	+4 	10
 United States 	6 	3 	1 	2 	11 	8 	+3 	10
 Mexico 	6 	3 	0 	3 	8 	9 	−1 	9
 El Salvador 	6 	1 	2 	3 	6 	8 	−2 	5
 Trinidad and T 6 	1 	2 	3 	7 	11 	−4 	5

The US has the two bottom teams in their next two matches. Six points there should and things won't be too nervous down the stretch. Honduras away is the only game remaining where the US won't be heavily favored.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I love how Mexico a day or so befoere the macyh moves it from night to the heat of the afternoon to give the Aztecas another advantage. This is why soccer and the UN will never catch on with Americans

Huh? It was moved well in advance.


Oh well, look at the upside. With the US losing, we can go back to criticizing Bob Bradley! Not sure why Cherundolo started over Spector, and I hate having Ching in for so long and Jozy in for so little, but really, the midfield was overrun all day, particularly on the flanks, the passing out of the back was worse than inept and the refs were questionable. I want to say that it didn't affect the score, as 2-1 was an accurate reflection, but I think Donovan was fouled leading to Mexico's first goal (Bocanegra's still a pussy for cowering) and I don't think Davies (it's Dave-ees Marcelo, not Davis, how do you not know that?) was offsides in the 72nd minute. And while yellow cards are yellow cards and wouldn't have mattered this game, how do you not give one to Guardado for his tackle or Castillo for headlocking Davies or pushing Onyewu twice? Makes me wish we had left Davies in after he cramped up - with his attitude I guarantee he would have laid out a Mexican with an elbow.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Huh? It was moved well in advance.


Oh well, look at the upside. With the US losing, we can go back to criticizing Bob Bradley! Not sure why Cherundolo started over Spector, and I hate having Ching in for so long and Jozy in for so little, but really, the midfield was overrun all day, particularly on the flanks, the passing out of the back was worse than inept and the refs were questionable. I want to say that it didn't affect the score, as 2-1 was an accurate reflection, but I think Donovan was fouled leading to Mexico's first goal (Bocanegra's still a pussy for cowering) and I don't think Davies (it's Dave-ees Marcelo, not Davis, how do you not know that?) was offsides in the 72nd minute. And while yellow cards are yellow cards and wouldn't have mattered this game, how do you not give one to Guardado for his tackle or Castillo for headlocking Davies or pushing Onyewu twice? Makes me wish we had left Davies in after he cramped up - with his attitude I guarantee he would have laid out a Mexican with an elbow.

As for the game time, the average temp in Mexico City in the month of August is 72-75 degrees. It was never moved for heat. I am sure they had a reason, but I am pretty sure it wasn't for a high temp.

As for the game, I agree a lot. I have been wanting to post the last hour or so. I actually have the urge to put some blame on Bradley now that I have time away from the game. Spector should have started, as I heard on a post game podcast and will repeat as a good reason is that he is one of the few defenders we have that consistently does well passing up to midfielders instead of just booting it up field. I understand Ching being in there, but if Jozy is the future we might as well help get him to theat level ASAP. Screw what the fitness levels may be. I would have prefer Holden went in for Bradley and not Clark.

At this point (well after 7 games) of WC qualifying last time around, the US had something like 17 points and were already qualified. Right now you see the results posted above.

Also, in six games this summer against Mexico (twice), Brazil (twice), Spain, and Italy the U.S. has been outscored in the second half 13-1. Not so hot against top level competition.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Cringer

As for the game time, the average temp in Mexico City in the month of August is 72-75 degrees. It was never moved for heat. I am sure they had a reason, but I am pretty sure it wasn't for a high temp.

As for the game, I agree a lot. I have been wanting to post the last hour or so. I actually have the urge to put some blame on Bradley now that I have time away from the game. Spector should have started, as I heard on a post game podcast and will repeat as a good reason is that he is one of the few defenders we have that consistently does well passing up to midfielders instead of just booting it up field. I understand Ching being in there, but if Jozy is the future we might as well help get him to theat level ASAP. Screw what the fitness levels may be. I would have prefer Holden went in for Bradley and not Clark.

At this point (well after 7 games) of WC qualifying last time around, the US had something like 17 points and were already qualified. Right now you see the results posted above.

Also, in six games this summer against Mexico (twice), Brazil (twice), Spain, and Italy the U.S. has been outscored in the second half 13-1. Not so hot against top level competition

Bradley keeps picking the wrong option on his half-time team talks in FM.

Seriously though he needs to adjust faster when things aren't going well. This is the second straight second half where they couldn't even hang onto the ball. You can't expect defending like the Spain game every time out.

The deflection to setup Mexico's winner was pretty harsh [/sour grapes]

[DaddyTorgo]

so, looking at the arbitrary one man's opinion player ratings on espn.com

D, Carlos Bocanegra, 4 -- Had his hands full with Dos Santos all day, made a few key stops, but broke down on the game-winning goal and could have closed the space on Mexico's opening goal. Still a viable left back option, but will always struggle against speedy players like Dos Santos.

If you really believe he will always struggle against speedy players then how is he "still a viable left back option." How many international teams field slow, plodding wingers. Especially at the higher levels.

[MrBug708]

Well, Donovan has swine flu. No wonder he looked so slow out there

[dacman]

EPL Prediction time again -- first lets see how I did last season:

Predicted order (actual finish)
-------------------------------------------
1. Manchester Utd (1)
2. Chelsea (3)
3. Liverpool (2)
4. Arsenal (4)
5. Aston Villa (6)
6. Everton (5)
7. Tottenham (8)
8. Manchester City (10)
9. Newcastle (18)
10. Portsmouth (14)
11. West Ham (9)
12. Blackburn (15)
13. Middlesbrough (19)
14. Sunderland (16)
15. Wigan (11)
16. Bolton (13)
17. WBA (20)
18. Fulham (7)
19. Hull City (17)
20. Stoke City (12)

Got the winner, didn't miss by much on the next few, but got pretty spotty from there -- major wiffage on Fulham, Newcastle, Stoke, and Middlesbrough.


2009-10 Prediction
---------------------------
1. Chelsea
2. Manchester Utd
3. Liverpool
4. Arsenal
5. Tottenham
6. Manchester City
7. Everton
8. Aston Villa
9. West Ham
10. Fulham
11. Bolton
12. Sunderland
13. Stoke City
14. Blackburn
15. Wigan
16. Hull City
17. Wolverhampton
18. Portsmouth
19. Birmingham City
20. Burnley

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Originally Posted by dacman

EPL Prediction time again -- first lets see how I did last season:

Predicted order (actual finish)
-------------------------------------------
3. Liverpool (3)

Liverpool actually managed a 2nd place finish.

Anyone know where I can watch the Chelsea-Hull match tomorrow? My guide is not showing it anywhere. Traditionally it's an FSC game (I think) but I read that ESPN got the 7:45 game. Anyone have any insight?

[dacman]

Gah! Somehow I had Chelsea finishing 2nd stuck in my head. Fixed it.

[Big Fo]

2009-10 EPL predictions:

Man Utd
Chelsea
Liverpool
Arsenal

Aston Villa
Man City

Everton
Spurs
Sunderland
Fulham
West Ham
Wigan
Blackburn
Bolton
Hull City
Wolves
Stoke City

Portsmouth
Birmingham
Burnley

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Liverpool actually managed a 2nd place finish.

Anyone know where I can watch the Chelsea-Hull match tomorrow? My guide is not showing it anywhere. Traditionally it's an FSC game (I think) but I read that ESPN got the 7:45 game. Anyone have any insight?

You can prob find it streaming live online during the match...try searching google for Chealsea Hull streaming, usually some crap but if you look around enough you can usually find it somewhere.

[Big Fo]

Yeah I can't find it either. I want to watch if Jozy is making his debut, hopefully Donovan didn't give him swine flu.

livesoccertv.com is usually a good site for seeing what games are on what channels, in this case it's only showing Sky Sports 1 (UK) and Setanta Sports Canada.

But epltalk.com says the game will be shown live on ESPN2 at 7:45 ET. The channel guide in my cable box says ESPN2 will be showing a bunch of hunting and fishing crap instead. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

For finding streams myp2p.eu rarely lets me down.

edit: ESPN and Fox Sports worked out the deal late on Friday, Chelsea-Hull City will be shown on ESPN2 at 7:45 am ET. No Altidore though. ESPN secures rights to EPL (Altidore to miss Hull-Chelsea match)

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

The game is on ESPN2.

Stephen Hunt scores the first goal of the Premier League season, and Hull leads 1-0.

[Big Fo]

Lucky ass goal from Drogba, that looked like a cross

[Easy Mac]

You hadn't heard Jozy did not play due to work permit issues. Hull were unlucky not to escape with a draw.

Meanwhile, arsenal are all over Tim Howard. You can't entirely fault him, but this has to speak to how bad the mls is since they could only manage a draw against Everton.

[Easy Mac]

Ok, now he can be faulted

[Big Fo]

Man, this is one of the biggest referee mistakes I've seen. It happened in the Bristol City v. Crystal Palace game today.



Maybe it's time for goalline cameras or something.

[AlexB]

Poor old Colin! Couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke!

[AlexB]

The reverse of the Reading v. Watford goal last year

YouTube - Watford v Reading ghost goal

[MrBug708]

My poor Eagles

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Man, this is one of the biggest referee mistakes I've seen. It happened in the Bristol City v. Crystal Palace game today.

Maybe it's time for goalline cameras or something.

Long overdue.
But sadly the people at FIFA don't watch soccer on tv and keep calling situations like this the charm of the game. *sigh*

[Blade6119]

Liverpool losing today put a big smile on my face, coupled with my reds taking a 1-0 win on the back 30 freaking shots...30!!

[Easy Mac]

They said on one of the games I was watching this weekend, they're going to have referees on each goal line during the champions league games.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

Liverpool losing today put a big smile on my face, coupled with my reds taking a 1-0 win on the back 30 freaking shots...30!!

Yeah it wasn't the best performance today but they got the win. Their keeper made some good saves, Berbatov had a header cleared off the line and should have won a PK when Carr stepped on his foot in the box. Right after that incident Benitez almost equalized on a counter-attack but Foster made a great save, I'd have been raging had that gone in. Rooney was great. Fabio did okay considering it was his league debut and he was playing out of position. By the end of the season Valencia will be regarded as one of the summer's best signings, he's going to be great for United. Fast, strong, can dribble, cross, and puts in a lot of work defensively.

Only one more match where the team will be missing both Ferdinand and Vidic and it's Burnley so hopefully that won't have too big of an effect.

Liverpool were quite poor and did nothing to make me change my mind re: how much they will miss Xabi Alonso.

[Cringer]

Charlie Davies had two goals today for Sochaux against Bordeaux in a 3-2 lose to the defending champs. The guy is on fire right now.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Liverpool were quite poor and did nothing to make me change my mind re: how much they will miss Xabi Alonso.

Liverpool got shafted on a 2nd PK (the blatant push, not the late handball) that would have tied the game. Agreed Tottenham overran them 1st half, but I think Tottenham will be very good this year with guys like Modric adjusted to the EPL.

And shouldn't people wait until Aquilani plays to see whether he can replace Alonso?

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Liverpool got shafted on a 2nd PK (the blatant push, not the late handball) that would have tied the game. Agreed Tottenham overran them 1st half, but I think Tottenham will be very good this year with guys like Modric adjusted to the EPL.

And shouldn't people wait until Aquilani plays to see whether he can replace Alonso?

And on matchday 2, Liverpool looked great, Tottenham looked great, and Man U lost at Burnley. Not to make too much of one result when Man U was missing players in defense and didn't start Ronaldo's replacement Valencia, but I think the Telegraph got it right

Originally Posted by http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/6056109/Burnley-Manchester-United-match-report.html

it was a night when the absence of Ronaldo was telling. The Portuguese would have fancied his chances from the penalty spot and, as Burnley tired, he would have relished the opportunity to put Owen Coyle’s team to the sword. For all of his faults, Ronaldo was deadly against lesser mortals. United are simply not the same without him.

[George]

Rumor going around that Landon Donovan may be headed to Paris St-Germain.

[Big Fo]

Nice bounce-back performance, United win 5-0 with all the goals coming in the second half. Berbatov was awesome, it's great to have Vidic back, and Owen scored a wonderful goal after an abject display on Wednesday. Six points out of nine is a better start than the last two title winning seasons.

Altidore sets up the match-winner on his first ever touch for Hull City.

Watching ESPN2's coverage, how often does this chick say "uh," like every fifth word? Why put her on TV, her voice makes my head hurt and she's not even hot. I'd honestly rather be subjected to Tommy Smith.

[The Jackal]

Gunners continue to look strong, as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens in the return leg with Celtic, should be an interesting match at Old Trafford next week.

[AlexB]

Callum Davenport is in a serious condition in hospital after he & his mum were stabbed last night.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Man held over footballer stabbing

[BishopMVP]

I thought Liverpool actually looked pretty good, but they do suffer their first home defeat since 2007 3-1 to Aston Villa. Outside of the normal stars, Glen Johnson, Petrov and Davies impressed me the most, and Lucas and Reo-Coker the least (even if Reo-Coker did draw a PK on a poor slide by Gerrard). Even matched up against Ashley Young for most of the game Johnson really looked great at FB getting forward. Liverpool should be much improved when Aquilani gets in - Lucas just looks quite poor and a step slow out there.

[ISiddiqui]

Don't think anyone has posted this, but an awesome column from Bill Simmons on what the atmosphere of the Mexico-US game was like:

Bill Simmons on Mexico City soccer game - ESPN

[Big Fo]

2008 MLS Defender of the Year Bakary Soumare either has moved or is close to moving to France's US Boulonge for €1.5m

SBI are reporting that PSG have yet to make a bid for Donovan.

Man Utd have been linked with Arjen Robben despite Ferguson's insistence that there will be no more arrivals this season. I'd love to see it happen but it's not going to. Also there are reports that Anderson wants out after an argument over playing time with Ferguson. He looked really promising in the 2007/8 season and although he regressed a bit last year, but he is obviously talented and I wouldn't want to see him leave just yet. Vidic has cleared up rumors linking him away from the club so that's some good news at least.

Good stuff from Villa today, Friedel was solid although many of those shots were hit right at him. It got a bit nervous after the Torres goal but thankfully Gerrard made attempted that tackle and gave the penalty away right after. I agree with BishopMVP, Johnson looks like a great signing for Liverpool from the two games I've seen him play for them.

[illinifan999]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Don't think anyone has posted this, but an awesome column from Bill Simmons on what the atmosphere of the Mexico-US game was like:

Bill Simmons on Mexico City soccer game - ESPN

From that article :

I am just starting to figure out soccer, but one of the first things I noticed is it's all about the subtleties. Not the goals as much as someone spotting a teammate 40 yards away, making a telepathic connection with him, starting a long kick for him just as his teammate starts streaking, then somehow landing the ball on his teammate's foot as though it were on a yo-yo.

This is what I tell ever person that asks me why I like to watch soccer. I try to tell them that watching soccer for the goals would be like watching baseball for homeruns. Sure they're exciting, but it's everything else about the game that makes you in awe of their ability.

[BishopMVP]

I've never understood the ability of someone like Steven Gerrard to get such power on shots... I can't throw a baseball more than 75mph, but I understand a pitcher throwing 90+. And it's not like I have a weak leg - I've punted a football over 60 yards.

[miami_fan]

Man City finally coughed up 24 million pounds to get Joleon Lescott from Everton.

[miami_fan]

Any suggestions for good soccer podcasts? I get ESPN Soccernet and Football Weekly from the Guardian.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

World Soccer Daily with Stephen Cohen.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

dola

Which I just read was cancelled by Cohen after Scousers went nuts over his comments. Too bad.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Any suggestions for good soccer podcasts? I get ESPN Soccernet and Football Weekly from the Guardian.

Big time soccer podcaster... everything I listen to in order of preference.


Football Weekly with James Richardson
Informative and genuinely funny. Great chast of characters who also have a ton of insight on the game.

frequency: twice a week (Mon/Thu)


Chapper's Premier League Podcasts
Mark Chapman is host (606 host sometimes) and former ref Graham Poll is a regular. I find Poll to be an extremely compelling personality that offers genuine real-world insight on refereeing.

frequency: once a week (Monday)


5 Live Football Daily
Concise recap (8-25 minutes... varies wildly) on the day/weekend's major events. This is another BBC one. Highly recommended because it's daily and they have a big variety of guests and opinions.

frequency: usually daily, Monday-Friday


ESPN Soccernet
Slightly blander than the others, but covers more leagues and gives some lip service to Major League Soccer.

Note: They also do an American soccer podcast on Friday (on the same feed) with a different cast. The content is good but the host has ZERO personality. I mean seriously... you calibrate your measurements of personality against this guy (Jen Chang i think?). If you care about specific attention to MLS and americans abroad though... it's worth listening.

frequency: twice a week (Mon/Thu) for the regular pod. once a week (Fri) for the American pod.


Sportsweek
Sunday morning show that does not stick exclusively to soccer. I usually just fast-forward to the soccer parts if they're talking cricket or track and field. You get really good in-depth interviews on this show, good guests. The interviews are generally good because the host is a real prick/great journalist... he asks tough questions, doesn't let people squirm away without direct followup questions, etc. This show can range from 'meh' to highly enlightening depending upon guest, etc. It's why I rate it fairly low.

frequency: once a week (Sunday)


606 Football Phone-In
Post-game call in show from the UK that happens right after the days game's end. Lots of people overly excited or overly dramatic about their team's fortunes (or lack of). I used to really love this... but find it much less entertaining these days.

frequency: minimum twice a week (Sat/Sun), sometimes as much as four (Wed/Thu). Midweek shows are not a permanent fixture, but do happen 'most' weeks. Usually just one midweek show... but during late stages of Champions League (where there are usually a lot of English teams playing) they kick it up.



Unfortunately I've yet to find anything that is both a) focused on Major League Soccer and b) good. I'm considering starting a show myself because of that. I love the EPL... but i'm honestly a bigger fan of MLS despite the obvious drop in quality. It's my local league. I find it silly that so many people would rather fantasize about a supermodel (any European league) than have sex with their wife (MLS). They also just magically want the domestic league to be great without supporting it's existence in any way. No idea how it's going to grow if huge soccer fans continue to turn up their nose at it.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

dola

Which I just read was cancelled by Cohen after Scousers went nuts over his comments. Too bad.

It's clearly more complicated than that... and having listened to this show for a long time, the one thing i've learned is that Cohen is a tremendous drama queen. It works to his advantage as a host (he can create talking points out of nothing sometimes).... but if you're a pretty knowledgable fan you can generally see right through it and find him pretty tiresome.

Still, it's admittedly a loss for soccer fans in the USA that WSD is gone.