Denmark to beat Brazil. Then this happened. Image: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/GettyImages. Judging from some of the upsets the big boys experienced over the weekend, Euro 2012 could well be won by a late entrant i.e. three Kickette staffers, two of their pets and a cab driver from London named Steve. Images: Getty Images.

Article by Anders Aarhus

[Editors Note: The views expressed in this article are the writer's opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of MLSReserves.com as a whole.]


Money talks. That's the message two NASL clubs, the Atlanta Silverbacks and the Minnesota Stars, gave their (now disgruntled) supporters by agreeing to give up their home field advantage in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup in exchange for financial compensation.

This round the second and third tiers of the US Soccer pyramid enter the fray as NASL and USL Pro begin play. We're pretty much out of local teams until MLS joins in the next round, as the Kitsap Pumas were eliminated in the last round by Eric Wynalda's Cal FC and the Portland Timbers U23s were similarly upset by USASA's PSA Elite last week.

So here it is. Last day of the season and the all important game that could decide a variety of issues as we go into the summer. Manager, players in and out and if we are dining at the big boys table next season. To be honest, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this thinking, I'm truly disappointed that 3rd place isn't signed, sealed and confirmed already and this game being the celebration of that for the Spurs faithful.

By Alan Duffy

Wigan Athletic 4-0 Newcastle United Premier League 28th April 2012

Roberto Martinez orchestrated yet another massive win for Wigan against one of the league's big boys on Saturday, as the Latics thrashed Champions League hopefuls Newcastle at the DW Stadium.

By Alan Duffy

Sam Allardyce, you can stand down now Barcelona have chosen their new coach. However, rather than hang on for one of the world's big-name bosses, the Catalans have decided to look closer to home, naming Guardiola's second-in-command, Francesc 'Tito' Vilanova as their new manager.

Barcelona is tired.

The genius of Messi has been a little more challenging lately....

It's not hard to see that. When a team gets tired, they slow off the ball.

Barcelona, more so then any other elite team, thrives with off-ball movement. It's necessary for neutrons in their attack.

Frequenters of this blog will know that I get nervous before big matches. Actually, frequenters of this blog will know that I get nervous before all matches; there are no gung-ho, intrepid chest beating, let me at ‘em kind of previews in the Nicks anteroom at BigFourZa. But because of the wide range of faces Arsenal have shown against the big boys, I especially balk whenever these fixtures come along.

Frequenters of this blog will know that I get nervous before big matches. Actually, frequenters of this blog will know that I get nervous before all matches; there are no gung-ho, intrepid chest beating, let me at ‘em kind of previews in the Nicks anteroom at BigFourZa. But because of the wide range of faces Arsenal have shown against the big boys, I especially balk whenever these fixtures come along.

There are advantages to playing in a smaller league. With fewer eyes watching, sponsors are more willing to use America as a test market, trying out new technology in the US before shipping it over to the big boys in Europe.

It was announced recently that Adidas would be using the 2012 MLS All-Star game, slated for July 25 in Philadelphia, as a forum to test its new "smart cleat" technology, micoach.

Look on the bright side. It's a long time since I left the Lane so numb with disappointment and dissatisfaction, so it must mean that most of the time, we've been doing OK but frankly after watching this sorry mess of incompetence, I'm struggling with the optimist thing. Instead of reaching for the podium we're not so much looking over our shoulder as being engulfed on the top bend like an 800 metre runner who went too early in order to win the premature cheers of the crowd.

By Alan Duffy

Norwich City Everton Premier League 7th April 2012

He may not be the most sophisticated of strikers, but chunky hitman Grant Holt is certainly making a name for himself in his first season in the top tier.

Olympique Lyonnais vs. AJ Auxerre

Stade Municipal de Gerland, Week 31, Ligue 1

Just last season, one could see Auxerre trying to fight their way in the Champions League group stages, against Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Ajax. Heck, they even beat Ajax at home! But things have changed, things have changed.

For a newly promoted team, the Swans are flying high in tenth with 39 points. With a similar brand of flowing football to us, the corresponding match up in Wales ended 1-1. According to the Swansea fans, that match was the first match that they realised they belonged in the Premier League and could compete with the big boys.

Ohh sod it!...Liverpool have a trip down to Loftus Road on Wednesday evening to face Mark Hughes' Queens Park Rangers. The Reds go into this game on the back of a victory over Stoke in the FA Cup and a 3-0 win in the Merseyside derby.
Injuries for Liverpool mean Dalglish is still unable to call on Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson.

Everton are in pole position to finish yet another season in the upper half of the Barclays Premier League table with limited resources but ahead of tonight's derby visit to Liverpool, manager David Moyes and midfielder Tim Cahill have emphasized the need to continue their big displays.

Despite a traditionally slow start to the season, Moyes calmly steadied the ship at Goodison Park, masterminding unexpected victories over the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, and most recently, Tottenham Hotspur.

There has been a wonderful freshness to the SLeague in its opening weeks as teams like Hougang United and Balestier Khalsa have flirted with the top positions but the weekend just gone has shown the traditional big boys flexing their muscles and how.

Tampines won the title last year, confirming the triumph with a 5-0 rout of Balestier Khalsa.

There has been a wonderful freshness to the SLeague in its opening weeks as teams like Hougang United and Balestier Khalsa have flirted with the top positions but the weekend just gone has shown the traditional big boys flexing their muscles and how.

Tampines won the title last year, confirming the triumph with a 5-0 rout of Balestier Khalsa.

Loyalty and longevity are rare traits in the world of professional sports. In Premier League soccer, keeping a team manager who has not won a trophy in 10 years is almost unheard of.
This week, David Moyes will complete a full decade as manager and coach at Everton.
It is an open secret that Everton, without a billionaire owner, struggles to spend anything like what the big boys of England's Premier League spend.

LA and Salt Lake resume their rivalry to kickoff the season. (Getty Images)

The 2012 season is finally here folks. After a few months of offseason and preseason madness, the new season is ready to kickoff. Many clubs have reason to be optimistic going into the new season while expectations are already being placed on the big boys in the league to do well again once more this season.

It was another difficult weekend for the Premier League's bottom sides.
Only Wigan Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers managed to salvage a point as the rest fell to another damaging defeat.
It looks like punters who bet on relegation have a choice between five sides at the bottom – with Wigan, Wolves, Queens Park Rangers, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers - all scrapping it out for survival.

This past two weeks have been pretty meh if you are a United fan. Knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League, we had nothing to look forward to over the last weekend, and nothing to really bother about over the past two mid-weeks. We lost at home to Ajax, which in itself is a pretty fair summation of how we have been in Europe at home this season piss poor.

Still no left back, but the slight defensive midfield depth issue has been addressed with the signing of Brazilian journeyman Marcelo Saragosa. Given that Kitchen will surely miss time for Olympic qualifiers (and the big show in London if we qualify) and isn't exactly a sure thing as he steps into his first year in the role for which he's being groomed, depth was a concern.

Could this Kiwi have clipped United's Canuck quotient?

Between trips to sunnier climes, United did a little trialist-pruning, releasing journeyman veterans Zayner and Svard along with the Suppie pickup Charles Rodriguez (conveniently just after the last Roster Reset...sigh). Kasper promises more trialists for the Arizona jaunt, but what I really want to see are (a) game time for Salihi against the MLS opposition on offer there and (b) a left back, any left back.

Does this man have your goals?

So are they done?

United ticked one of the two big "need" boxes by acquiring Albanian international striker Hamdi Salihi as a designated player (wait, I thought Uncle Will wasn't going to splash the cash?). Given his impressive rate of return wherever he's played, he certainly seems to fit the poacher's bill, though he also has decent size.

Venue: Amex Stadium, Brighton Date: 28th January 2012 Kick Off: 5.15pm Referee: Lee Probert It's the 4th Round of the FA Cup and we're still in it! Added to that some notable teams such as Manchester City have already left the competition, and the so-called "big boys" keep getting drawn against each other for a [.

The boxes are being ticked, slowly but surely. With the addition of central defender Emiliano Dudar, the depth acquisition project seems all but complete. Still, the two biggest needs, left back and finisher the ones we've been pointing to all offseason, remain frustratingly unfilled. Stefan Jerome, recently arrived on trial, would be a nice project up top (can't believe he's only 19 my memories of him as a U 17 seem distant), but isn't the finished product.

Domestic cup competitions in Europe typically feature David vs. Goliath stories, but Wednesday, it's all about the big boys.

Liverpool carries its 1-0 edge over Manchester City in the Carling Cup semifinals into the second leg at Anfield, where the Reds will try and hold on and advance to next month's title game against surprise finalist Cardiff City.

Despite the nonsense about some other matchup in the Copa del Rey right now can't quite remember the names of those rather insignificant teams at the moment the real story is not east, not west, but down. Way down in the third division. Mirandes, a humble little club in the north of Spain, knocked off their third yes, third La Liga opponent to get to the Copa del Rey.

Not a striker.

The fight is on for roster spots as half of last Reset's trialists are gone and new faces arrive for the Florida camp. I'm still not seeing the potential for significant improvement in the weakest areas (finisher, left back), but at least we're no longer stuck in stasis-land and the depth issues look like being addressed.

Missile Swap: Out with the Clydewinder, in with the Cruz?

Don't look now, but the glacial pace of United's roster assembly is starting to pick up. Hot on the heels of the Maicon Santos acquisition comes the signing of former Dynamo right mid Danny Cruz1, leaving the current roster + trialists looking like this.

Praying for goals.

Movement at last! Maicon Santos makes it 15 for Salary Budget players, and United drops a 14-trialist bomb as pre-season camp gets underway. Of course, the majority of the trialists are guys with limited to no MLS experience, but such was always going to be the major source to roster depth1.

By Alan Duffy

Blues Brothers...

All blessed with good footballing names, Rio, Cole and Jay Dasilva are the latest youngsters to be snapped up by the big boys, after the Luton Town youth players were signed up by Chelsea, each for a five-figure sum.

It's that time of the year again when local pride is at stake in the numerous state championships which are prevalent in the opening months of the Brazilian football calendar. From Amapá in the far north to Rio Grande do Sul in the south, from Acre in the west to Paraíba in the far east of the country, twenty seven regions of Brazil will be involved in their own local championship, mixing the big boys with the smaller village teams, with each club hoping to win their respective title and qualify for a place in next year's edition of the national cup, Copa Brazil.

With the departure of Cesc and Nasri, no matter what you think of the players, it's obvious that our goals from the midfield area have reduced. Whether this be down to the injury of Wilshire, or the lack of width provided by the full backs, I don't know. But, with Arshavin looking increasingly on his way out, what has become clear is that Arsenal are in need of an attacking midfielder/wide player who can create and score goals in equal measure.

With the departure of Cesc and Nasri, no matter what you think of the players, it's obvious that our goals from the midfield area have reduced. Whether this be down to the injury of Wilshire, or the lack of width provided by the full backs, I don't know. But, with Arshavin looking increasingly on his way out, what has become clear is that Arsenal are in need of an attacking midfielder/wide player who can create and score goals in equal measure.

Goal: Wednesday's Bet of the Day: A low scoring match between Manchester City and Liverpool

After a correct tip in the first League Cup semi-final between Crystal Palace and Cardiff, Adam Bate doesn't see many goals between the two Premier League big boys on Wednesday

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2012-01-11 11:29:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

AS Lyon Duchère vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Coupe de France, Round of 64

Coupe de France greets us on the other side of the winter break, and OL travels to, well, Lyon. The fourth division team of Lyon Duchère, the youth club of Eric Abidal, hosts Olympique Lyonnais, the big boys this time.

By Alan Duffy

Newcastle United 0-0 Swansea City Premier League 17th December 2011

Newcastle have now gone five league games without a victory after failing to break down a stubborn Swansea side on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester United star Wayne Rooney was at the centre of an unlikely Twitter spat with The X Factor 'wildman' Frankie Cocozza. The reality TV star tweeted: "#CelebsThatLookLikeTheyStink not really a celeb but I bet his pits are stinking, along with his breath @waynerooney." You might wonder what Rooney would gain from rising to the bait, [.