I suppose it's axiomatic to say that Arsenal's is a much more green and pleasant land in the
aftermath of a good victory. The scorched earth of transfer deadline day has (temporarily at least)
given way to the first flower of spring. I still have my misgivings about the squad, but there
seems little point in recycling them now.
After every match this season, the staff here at The Bent Musket will be putting together player
ratings. Ratings are on a 1-10 scale, with 5 representing a thoroughly average performance, and 6 a
decent/capable showing. The final ratings will be averages of individual ratings from Steve Stoehr,
Corey Major, and Brendan Schimmel.
Matt Reis was easily the Revs top performer on Saturday. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)
After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of
the New England Revolution players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5
average, 10 perfection).
The New England Revolution made history tonight as they extended their winless streak to 10
games, more than any other team in the club's history.
Playing host to the Philadelphia Union for the only time this season, coach Jay Heaps decided to
shake up the lineup tonight in lieu of recent performances as well as various injuries and fatigue
as they entered the second of their three game home-stand spanning just 8 days.
Earlier this year, I was asked to write a Revolution season preview for Major League Soccer
Talk. For the most part, I went into the season with realistic expectations. There were no
delusions of Supporter's Shield nor MLS Cup in my head. The perfect season for these New England
Revolution, with a new roster, and a new head coach, was just to play well and not finish dead last
in the league.
With only hours left in the transfer window, U.S. international Clint Dempsey finally got his
wish as Fulham agreed to a deal with Tottenham on a £6 million move. The deal came after a few
agonizing weeks saw Dempsey consistently rumored in moves to Liverpool and Arsenal, among
others.
The 29-year-old American's desire to move to Anfield fell through today after a £4 million
offer from the Reds was outbid by Aston Villa.
Shalrie Joseph helped tilt the midfield battle on Wednesday. (Photo: Kari
Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
For 21 minutes, the New England Revolution played and looked like the team  Jay Heaps
envisioned. New England pressed. It attacked. The ball moved quickly and players whipped in early
crosses.
Monday afternoon the New England Revolution announced that they acquired two-time MLS All-Star
Juan Toja through the MLS Allocation process, after Toja officially signed with the league last
week.
Toja will join the club upon the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and U.S. P-1
Visa, and will occupy an international player slot on the roster.
Monday afternoon the New England Revolution announced that they acquired two-time MLS All-Star
Juan Toja through the MLS Allocation process, after Toja officially signed with the league last
week.
Toja will join the club upon the receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and U.S. P-1
Visa, and will occupy an international player slot on the roster.
It only seems like it's been forever since George John and Ugo Ihemelu were paired together in
the FC Dallas backline as one of the better center back tandems in all of Major League Soccer.
Ihemelu hasn't played since May 6 due to concussion symptoms and honestly may not see the pitch
again this year while John only recently returned from concussion issues of his own.
This was by far the worst New England performance of the season as they lost 1-0 to Sporting
Kansas in front of 17,592 fans at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.
The loss extended New England's (6-11-5, 23 pts.) winless run to five games (0-4-1), while
Sporting KC (12-7-4, 40 pts.) snapped a three-game winless streak and vaulted back into a tie for
first place in the Eastern Conference.
David Junior Lopes has developed a knack lately for scoring against big time European clubs.
A little more than a week after scoring an equalizer against Tottenham Hotspur, the 6-4 Center
Back was at it again against Spanish power Real Madrid on Thursday. This time, Lopes cashed in a
goal off a David Beckham set piece in the 24rd minute, but even that was not enough to prevent
Madrid from once again outclassing the Galaxy for a third straight year courtesy of a 5-1 win over
LA at the Home Depot Center.
CARSON, Calif.—The Los Angeles Galaxy continued their lifetime series domination of the
Vancouver Whitecaps, posting a comfortable 2-0 victory at the Home Depot Center on Saturday
night.
The Whitecaps have never beaten the Galaxy, and they never looked close to pulling that off at
any point during the game—they only had two shots throughout the 90 minutes.
CARSON, Calif.--The LA Galaxy took down Isidro Metapan 5-2 on Thursday night in their opening
CONCACAF Champions League match, but the win wasn't nearly as comfortable as the scoreline would
suggest.
Despite flurry of second half cards, including the bizarre sending off of captain Robbie Keane,
the Galaxy managed to hold off a quick and dangerous Metapan side.
The Los Angeles Galaxy saw their five-game unbeaten streak snapped on Sunday in a crushing 4-0
defeat to the Seattle Sounders, and not only did L.A. fail to score, but their defensive
performance left a lot to be desired.
While the club continued to be without Todd Dunivant at left back, who has been sidelined with a
calf injury since July 19, that was no excuse for how poorly they played against Seattle.
Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira scored in each half to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win over Mexican club
Santos Laguna in a friendly on Sunday in Las Vegas.The Mexican champions offered a lot more
competition for Madrid than what the LA Galaxy had in what what a competitive game.
It has been a long time since "Sin City" has seen a marquee team like Real Madrid and the 29,152
fans in attendance seem to enjoy the game despite the 102 degrees at kickoff.
The most important thing about tonight's nationally televised game is not the result. Today is
one of those days with the odd confluence of real-life as both of tonight's MLS matches will have a
moment of silence to respect the passing of Columbus Crew player Kirk Urso. This moment will be
surrounded with crowds beyond comparison, a borrowing of some SeaFair style festivities,
tifo and as many stars as have been on the pitch at once.
CARSON, Calif.-- There wasn't much the reigning MLS champions could do to contain the speed and
skill of La Liga champions Real Madrid on Thursday night.
The Los Angeles Galaxy fell to Real Madrid 5-1 in front of a record crowd of 30,317 at the Home
Depot Center, with L.
It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves. Ultimately, this game will be judged upon
the result and its effect upon playoff standings. The Houston Dynamo came back home after a
smashing victory in El Salvador against CD FAS to face very inconsistent Toronto FC. The Dynamo had
a 20 game unbeaten streak at the Cage, in the Oven, and they had every hope of continuing their
home dominance.
Perhaps not as glamorous as a marquee striker or midfielder, as what we've come to expect from
MLS teams in the recent years, but I think, if anything, these past two road games have shown that
the Portland Timbers desperately need to bring in a marquee, veteran defender to command and lead
the back line.
The Montreal Impact finished their astounding August in style, defeating DC United 3-0, to
finish the month 4-0. The win, their fifth in a row, and sixth consecutive victory at Stade Saputo,
pulled the Impact within a point of fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Chicago Fire will take their three-game winning streak to the nation's capital Wednesday
night to battle a struggling D.C. United side who has one win in their last five games. However,
United have yet to lose a home game since the opening week of the season having logged an 8-1-3
record with a +15 goal differential.
The day is finally here for a soccer rivalry that is always full of fight, intrigue, and
normally hostile play. When the US and Mexico butt heads, it's usually not pretty. It also doesn't
help that the Americans will be playing tonight in Aztec Stadium, which has been an impenetrable
fortress for the Yanks.
The Chicago Fire Reserves defeated the Colorado Rapids Reserves by a score of 3-1 on a sunny
mid-August afternoon at the Toyota Park practice field today. Much like the first team, the
reserves conceded the first goal before retaliating with three unanswered goals from Daniel
Paladini, Dominic Oduro, and Victor Pineda.
The U.S. Women's National Team will advance to the Olympic semi-finals after defeating New
Zealand 2-0 in Newcastle on Friday.
Goals from Abby Wambach and Sydney LeRoux combined with Hope Solo's third consecutive shutout
punched their ticket to the next round, where they will face either Canada or Great Britain.
Our regular 3 questions exchange is back and just as good as ever. I worked with Duncan Fletcher
over at Waking the Red for this exchange. Tomorrow night is going to be very fun. The Fire will
have a chance to scrub away the bad taste from the late equalizer given up in San Jose last
weekend. There is no better way to do that than earn all 3 points tomorrow night in front of the
Fire faithful at Toyota Park.
By the scruff of the neck...Well not exactly "the bossman" TFC supporters may have
expected but an intriguing signing nonetheless. After the disappointment of being stymied in their
quest to land Olof Mellberg a couple of weeks back, The Reds had to look elsewhere for a Don Garber
Approved (TM) defender and instead landed young Irish International Darren O'Dea.
The first sneak previews of FIFA 14 have been released and it promises to be tiki-taka-tastic. Among the new features are four that encourage users to build play through midfield and dictate the tempo of a match. Those features are: Protect The Ball, which will enable players to fend-off and block defenders from the [.
The United States needs a win in CONCACAF 2014 World Cup Qualifying as they host Jamaica on
September 11, 2012. The match will take place at Columbus Crew Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 8
PM USA EST.
USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann
"We gave away cheap free kicks and lost the game based on that.
If you feel like you've seen enough of Chivas USA imagine being the players and coaches that
watch that match tape to get ready for them. In many ways those past performances are not
indications of much. Few teams in MLS have added so much talent during the season. It's certain
that none have done that while not really getting better.
Arsenal midfield now has a beautiful structure to it by AM After three consecutive clean sheets,
Arsenal's new found defensive resolve has come under the spot light and so has Steve Bould and his
contribution, and deservedly so, one has to look back the backline of the ‘Invincibles' to come
across a more organized Arsenal [.
Women's Soccer Dominant in 4-0 Win Over Akron Courtesy TribeAthletics.com KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Behind three first-half goals, the William and Mary women's
soccer team cruised past Akron, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon in its final game of the First Tennessee
Lady Vol Classic.
Although we play Toronto FC tonight I thought this would be a good time to look over the current
roster we have after the transfer window has closed. We added some pieces and we certainly have
some new looks to the team. This got me thinking about some of the possibilities that we may see in
the immediate future.
