by Greg Seltzer - Most popular for September 2008
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I'm sleepy, so let's not dillydally... #1 - The weekend Americans Abroad goal roundup won't take
long this time around, but at least somebody broke the drought. For the second straight Danish Cup
match, Randers FC attacker Lee Nguyen lit the lamp. Check out his opportunistic marker here. A pair
of homies in Norway's second fight picked up assists: Nybergsund's Joe Lapira and Haugesund's
Cameron
You know it works, I may add as the day goes... #1 - English outlets are now talking up young
Charles Renken-to-Arsenal academy. It should be quite fun to watch this young man's career unfold.
Infamous (trust me... he'll like that modifier) BigSoccer blogger Bill Archer talks about the fuss
and argues that he should forgo Euro-training to remain in the USSF Bradenton Residency program.
Do you want the 411 on LD? Then ya gotta go to AC. With Bayern Munich supposedly interested in
expanding their market to the U.S. and apparently insisting only the best 'Nat will do, Landon
Donovan finally admits he would be open to a move back to Germany after all. NSC pal Andrea Canales
gets the story from every angle over at Soccernet.
Apparently, says his agent, AC Milan star man Kaká might be willing to become one of Man
City's prize catches next summer if they can earn a Champions League entry with a top-four finish
this term. Sure, Cesc Fabregas laughed off the thought of succumbing to new Citeh owner Sulaiman
Al-Fahim's vast riches, but a successful move for Kaká could bring legitimacy to dreams of a
star-stocked Blue
Having had a few days to do some studying and weigh all need factors specific to the clubs, I will
now present my list of best summer shoppers of 2008... #5 - Paris St. Germain Despite not spending
nearly as much as many clubs, rebuilding PSG added a strong veteran, winning influence with the
arrivals of Ludovic Giuly, Mateja Kezman and Claude Makalele.
U.S. international Maurice Edu made his Rangers bow in a 2-1 home win over Kilmarnock that sent the
Ibrox crew clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League table. The midfielder was called on late
after Kevin Thompson pulled up lame and worked a solid hour - even could have had an assist had
club and conutry mate DaMarcus Beasley not squandered a fine through ball.
Gather round, be all ears! As promised, here are my choices of the finest pieces of efficient
business done during the summer transfer window. I included free signings and pre-deals for
judging, but loans deals are not eligible. I have factored in fee, need, age, skill, potential,
field impact and financial boost capabilities.
It's time to inaugurate what I hope will become a busily regular theme post here at NSC by saluting
Reading manager Steve Coppell for his comments in the aftermath of the wacky 2-2 draw ably
described by Sean in the previous post (with exclusive remarks from Watford's Jay DeMerit, no
less). Sometimes, we get so caught up criticizing that we forget to honor the good guys.
Right on the heels of a round of Who likes goals?, it seemed a proper time to celebrate some of the
top shot-stoppers in the global game. Rather than go for the obligatory current superstar ranking,
I figured we should take a glimpse at the next generation of stonewall netminders. I did not
include obvious choices with plenty of time left on their sides, such as Real Madrid's Iker
Casillas (27)
I know you're all waiting for info... so am I. When I have something, you'll know first.
MINI-UPDATE: I still believe Oguchi Onyewu is on the move as we speak, I'm still digging on this
one. There has been some talk of a Jonathan Spector loan move to noted Championship side Nottingham
Forest, but I've been unable thus far to pin down his agent so far.
Having slept obscenely late to prepare for tonight's USMNT v Trinidad & Tobago World Cup qualifier,
it's time again to take a quick lap around the soccer world before some niiiice yoga... #1 - An
overly cute French girl brought me homemade food out of the blue... that's right, suckas! She aimed
right for my tummy, which tells me she's a smart one.
After playing a bit part in Mexico's 2-1 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying win over Canada, El Tri
hero/villain (depending on whom you ask) Cuauhtémoc Blanco officially hung his international
boots. Of course, this can only mean good things for the Chicago Fire, but for me, U.S. v Mexico
encounters have lost just a little bit of especias.
It's been an odd weekend. I'm still trying to regulate sleep after two middle-of-the-night U.S.
matches in five days. But the games go on, so let's persevere... #1 - Jozy Altidore made a very
strong La Liga debut as Villarreal scored a 1-0 win over Deportivo on Sunday. The U.S.
international came on at halftime and displayed an array of power forward skills, drawing raves
from Spanish daily
We'll be underway at the top of the next hour, here are your line-ups: Howard; Baines, Yobo,
Lescott, Neville, Castillo, Arteta, Cahill, Anichebe, Yakubu Bench: Nash; Valente, Kissock,
Wallace, Agard, Gosling, Rodwell, Vaughan, Baxter Espinoza; Camozzato, Onyewu, Sarr, Dante, Dalmat,
Defour, Nicaise, Witsel, De Camargo, Mbokani Bench: De Vriendt; Goreux, Mikulic, Ingrao, Toama,
Jovanovic,
Transplanted Brit reporter Nick Thomas has sweetened the long-running Pablo Mastroeni-to-Europe
serial by uncovering a pair of Spanish suitors in Málaga and Real Betis. Of course, the
veteran midfield stopper is also wanted in Italy (by both Serie A and Serie B clubs, so they say).
Mastro would prefer a move to Italy, but I'm actually much more excited by these La Liga
possibilities, especially
It's still early, so hopefully I can find 2-3 more clips to add on... Eredivisie MLS To make up for
the dearth of league Goal of the Week clips so far, please enjoy the highlights from a pair of
nine-goal thrillers: New York v Colorado & Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim. - Greg Seltzer
Do as the captain says, or everybody gets it. The silly season is over for now, and it's time to
put focus back on the game. Expect to see "A few things... " completely bereft of
transfer talk later in the day. In fact, I'm sure you'll see NSC's voice tilt back away from news
chases and back towards gonzo fun without losing sight of the bouncing ball.
Fast, but now a shade less than furious... #1 - Let's begin with weekend American goalscorers,
shall we? Let's all say it together, now: Charlie Davies can't stop scoring! Sadly, his ninth of
the season (media player link) came in a 5-1 loss to Helsingborgs. Nevertheless, CD currently sits
third in the Allsvenskan goal chart, one goal and slot behind Helsingborgs star Henrik Larsson.
I am now going to take the sonic laser out on MLS, but bear with me, it's not what you might think.
I'm not going to criticize level of play, ownership structure, championship structure, Designated
Players or even the insipid scheduling of games on FIFA dates without a postpone clause for teams
that lose half their roster to international duties (John Carver already handled that last one just
It's another busy day, but after not posting yesterday (wanting to give our guest proper top
billing time), I thought I'd give a look-see into the next few days... #1 - To steal from Jeff
Foxworthy: if you don't groove to today's Cut of the Day, you might have mental or hearing
problems. Seriously, it's easily one of the best 100 cuts ever recorded, so get up and dance.
I know I'm running a bit late for a Monday, but it's been a busy few days. Now that I'm done making
excuses, let's get to business... #1 - With a dramatically reduced Americans Abroad schedule, the
weekend goal roundup shant take long. Cameron Weaver bagged his team-high eighth of the season in
the 90th minute to earn surging Haugesund a 2-1 win over Hødd The lone assist of the weekend
also
With the Champions League group stage and UEFA Cup first round set to begin, let's go over the
European matches this week involving Americans and their clubs. Jozy Altidore is not on
Villarreal's roster for Wednesday's daunting Champions League trip to face holders Manchester
United in their Group F opener, so stateside fans will sharpen focus on UEFA Cup matches.
It's a little jumpy in spots, but the folks at YankedAround beat me to splicing together a few Jozy
moments from the second half of Villarreal's Sunday win over Deportivo. Enjoy... - Greg Seltzer
You do, so enjoy... Bundesliga (this clip spans the entire season to date, rounds 1-5) Eredivisie
MLS Serie A (gotta dig the music on this one) I'm hangin' the chads for Frei, Elyounoussi, Rogers
and Kaká. And for good measure, check out Fernandinho dialing long distance to win a Champions
League match for Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek.
I admit it... that used to be me every time the ol' PC started going goofy and I had no clue how to
make it stop. I'm not what one would call overly computer savvy. I know computers like I know cars
- I know only what I've had to fix. But today, as I continued to struggle for techno-normalcy for
the second day in a row, I thought of some recent sage advice from my dear friend Ami: "Just
say.
