The Union midfield did well to silence Fernando Cardenas and the Revolution's midfielders.
(Photo: Walter Silva)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. A game to forget for the both the New England Revolution and the Philadelphia
Union. A dour 0-0 draw where neither team really showed a desire to score a goal or put the
opponent on the back foot.
CHESTER, Pa. -- For more than 80 minutes, the first-ever meeting between the Philadelphia Union
and the Montreal Impact left something to be desired. But in the last 15 minutes, that all
changed.
Philadelphia took the lead in the 82nd minute when Lionard Pajoy pounced on a loose ball in the
box, only for Montreal to answer moments later when the Union fell asleep on a corner kick and
conceded an own goal.
Using the Opta Chalkboard to analyze the FC Dallas playmaker
Article by Anders Aarhus
To say it's been a tough season for FC Dallas would be an understatement. Plagued by injuries to
key players throughout the season the team has won just three games and is dead last in the Western
Conference on 15 points.
If you every hypothesized that the Europa Cup last season was the competition with the talent,
the passion, and the more compelling matches, then you had your proof today. It was Atletico at the
end looking as if it could have played another 90 minutes while Chelsea looked like it wanted back
those 90 minutes, each minute more painful than the one before.
Brendan Rodgers is broadcasting the Nuri Sahin loan transfer as a sales pitch that swayed the
Turkish midfielder in Liverpool's direction. Nothing can be more untrue.
Sahin had set his heart on coming to Arsenal and it was the club's insistence on a provision to
buy him out that became a deal breaker.
This once-over comes courtesy of the German keeper in blue.
And it turns out I'm right about picking the young Germans, led by Maren Meinert and Bettina
Wiegmann and Silke Rottenberg, all of whom, unbeknownst to us all, strategize with their hands
on their chins. Like Team USA had any answer to this.
Liverpool's possible new signing in Nuri Sahin shows his dazzling array of skills in this patchy
video mostly playing for Dortmund of the Bundesliga in Germany in 2010/11 before he joined Real
Madrid last season.
From this, he takes an excellent free-kick, is an offensive, attacking midfielder with a keen eye
for goal.
‘Tis the season of the kit launch. The big clubs are all trying to outdo one another, but if
there is anything I have learned, it's that no matter what the Chelseas and Real Madrids do to
promote their new design, St. Pauli will still come out looking like champions.
It's measure of how assured our defensive performance was that at no stage did I feel the usual
flutters of nervousness during yesterday's game. Normally Stoke are a team – much as we dislike
them – that cause us real problems. From set-pieces or throw-ins, or even on the break, we find
them difficult to cope with.
It's official, Santi Cazorla has joined Arsenal for a fee believed to be somewhere in the £15
million range. In short, it's a bit of a bloody bargain. As we've already noted,
we're super, super excited to see him take to a Premier League pitch.
It's official, Santi Cazorla has joined Arsenal for a fee believed to be somewhere in the £15
million range. In short, it's a bit of a bloody bargain. As we've already noted,
we're super, super excited to see him take to a Premier League pitch.
According to reports Liverpool are  lining up a £16million bid for Bologna winger Gaston
Ramirez.
The 21- year olds agent earlier confirmed that the midfielder is holding talks with a Premier
League club, and if recent reports are to be believed Liverpool are favourites to land the
highly-rated Uruguayan international .
Tim Cahill was very much the reason that Everton FC is a frequent watch at TSG headquarters. The
now 32-year-old who joined the Toffees in 2004 epitomizes the club.
In his younger days, he had the perfect concoction of two parts lunchpail, one part creativity
that made him perhaps one of the most complete squad players anywhere in the Prem.
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo took some time to reflect on his team's summer signings ahead
of today's pre-season training opening day, asserting that the new arrivals will only strengthen
the European champions.
The Blues lost experienced trio Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, and Jose Bosingwa this summer but
added future stars such as Marko Marin and Eden Hazard, both of whom the manager has backed to
shine in the Blues uniform.
Studs like hugs.Everything I said earlier about how fearful the world should be of Japan and how
they're securing their positions as a true force in women's soccer--if not one of the
forces, a true effing powerhouse, in women's soccer--let me now apply this to the Canadians.
It's exciting, I have to admit, as a fan of this game.
It's like the day after getting a package you were anxiously waiting for. You're glad it's
finally arrived and the waiting didn't seem that long after all. Officially, 100%, Santi Cazorla is
a Gooner. He signed from Malaga for the ubiquitous undisclosed fee on a long-term contract.
and the main event this grey Friday is, of course, Santi Cazorla. Absent from training at Malaga
yesterday he traveled to London as everything had been agreed between the clubs, underwent a
medical and all going well should be unveiled as an Arsenal player today.
It is, perhaps, 12 months later than Arsene Wenger would have liked.
Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye, our top two French Internationals haven't played yet in pre-season,
after they have been back at Newcastle for only a week, Â since having some rest following their
Euro 2012 exploits. Hatem Ben Arfa in action earlier this year Alan Pardew has said thatÂ
Newcastle lacked some flair and creativity in the game at Den Haag on Saturday, and certainly [.
From grown-up Spanish men dolled up in flamenco costumes (brillante!), couples kissing in
the Ukrainian rain to Swedish "body rockers", here's our photo special featuring the best fans from
Euro 2012 Matchday 2! (See Part 1 here).
Sweden may have been defeated by England last night, but it wouldn't have mattered to these fans
anyway they couldn't have watched the game through that mask!
Had something written up since Sunday but work commitments meant that it was never published.
So, in order not to waste your time (you know how much I treasure your time), here's just a recap
of how things went in the Euros.
England v France
Roy Hodgson went for his tried and trusted 2 banks of four and that worked.
szólj hozzá: Spain vs Ireland 4:0 MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Spain at their ridiculous best. Fernando Torres looking like the old Torres, eating up real
estate with each huge gallop and flourishing a trenchant finish. Can we anoint Andres Iniesta? And
did David Silva's eye popping goal bring a tear to your peepers?
The match between England and France had the atmosphere of a dentist´ waiting room. In a 1-1 match
that had a very slow pace, it was an enormous disappointment to see an English team that did not
want to do anything but defend, while France somehow wanted to win, but was without much
creativity. This was more like a summer friendly match than the start of a great tournament!
Chelsea have finally announced that the club has completed the signing of Oscar from
Internacional for a fee widely being reported to be around £25 million. The 20-year-old, a
Brazilian international, adds even more creativity to a side that has been bolstered by the likes
of Eden Hazard and Marko Marin already this summer.
It wasn't a 90 beautiful minutes, but it was a solid first half combined with a nice response in
the second half that gave the Dynamo a much needed 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union. Goals
from Brad Davis and Brian Ching (sure it was a PK but at last he scores at BBVA Compass Stadium)
led Houston to the three points.
More of the same from the Rapids. Boneheaded defending combined with a complete lack of creativity
led to a 2-0 loss and the loss of the Rocky Mountain Cup, again. I won't discuss the Rapids offense
because there was none. 0 shots on goal in the game. On the defense things were relatively solid
until Wynne brain-locked again.
The Portland Timbers came out flat and looked terrible making the Colorado Rapids look like
Manchester United. Colorado took advantage and scored two early goals. Their lead held up as
Portland continued their uninspired play and added another one late. 3-0 loss.
First Half
Portland's road woes continued as they came out flat and uninspired.
Not really the result we were hoping for as Sporting KC beat Colorado 2-0 last night. A goal in the
latter half of each half did the team in. All credit to the Rapids, they send out a pretty strong
lineup:
Cascio - Edu - ThompsonCastrillon - Larentowicz - RiveroFreeman - Marshall - Palguta -
KimuraPickens
That's about the best lineup we could play due to our injuries (Moor was a late scratch due to a
tight hamstring).
After 10 hours of scoreless road soccer here is what everyone had to say.
Quotes
Portland Timbers Quotes
Timbers general manager/interim head coach Gavin Wilkinson
Thoughts on the game:
"I think in the first half we lacked a little bit of energy, we lacked imagination, we lacked
creativity - our ball speed was a little bit poor and individual areas cost us the goal.
This week in the SB Nation Power rankings, the Chicago Fire took a bit of a fall, dropping into
eighth place after having climbed up to sixth the week prior. The Fire looked pretty tired and
didn't seem to show a lot of creativity on Sunday. A seventh place ranking would've seemed more
justified especially after getting results on the road the previous week.
There's a really good article out by NUFCSTATS, a Newcastle fan, a couple of days ago in EPLINDEX, where you get all the stats of both the players and the Premier league sides, and it points out the woeful creativity of Newcastle United this season. Demba Ba's handball goal at Reading the only one form [.
I have taken some stick on my blog over the past day or so because I have changed my opinion. As we
all know, Chelsea have played with the tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation ever since Jose Mourinho
was manager in 2004. That formation has brought Chelsea major successes as we know.
In recent seasons however, it seems that the opposition had worked out how to defend against the
4-3-3 formation we were using and Chelsea found it very difficult to break down.
It's always wonderful to see creativity leaking into the world of sport, and Andres Iniesta's
latest ad is no different. Though having him a jagged mess of limbs clacking together and held by
bits of string doesn't seem to parallel the smoothest man in football. Or maybe that's the
point.
Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for teenage winger Raheem Sterling after his goalscoring display
at Anfield on Sunday.
The 17-year-old scored the opener as Liverpool produced a convincing display to beat Bayer
Leverkusen 3-1.
Lucas Leiva and Andy Carroll were also on target against the Bundesliga side but it was Sterling's
outstanding performance that caught the eye and Rodgers was impressed.
The New England Revolution would be very happy if the entire month of July just evaporated into
thin air. At this point, I think the Revs could use a do-over. After kicking the month off with a
convincing 2-0 win over New York, the Revs didn't win another game (and still haven't), finishing
July with a 1-3-1 record.
On Wednesday, Revolution midfielder Ryan Guy announced his intentions of joining the Guam
National Team. (Photo: Kari Heistad)
Ryan Guy may not be on Jurgen Klinsmann's radar, but that won't stop the Revolution midfielder
from earning his first international cap before the close of the calendar year.
Watching Liverpool play last season was a frustrating experience for all concerned. Clearly a team
with talent, they were over-reliant on Luis Suarez for creativity while those around the Uruguayan
often didn't take enough responsibility. In fact,...
