It's another day of European football, and hopefully this time the English clubs can do better than their counterparts who play in the Premier League (Manchester United excepted, despite their shaky performance on Tuesday). We have three...
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Liverpool could shelve their interest in free-scoring Dutchman Ricky van Wolfswinkel after the
player's agent confirmed the striker's intention to extend his stay at Sporting Lisbon.
Louis Laros, Van Wolfswinkel's representative, has revealed that plans are in place to renegotiate
his client's contract at Sporting later this month.
Arsenal renew interest in Afellay? by TS Well it seems that three English clubs have renewed their
interest in Ibrahim Afellay and Arsenal along with Chelsea and Liverpool are tipped as the clubs to
want the versatile player. Reports suggest that he could spend next season on loan away from
Barcelona and the race for [.
Keeping with our recent tradition of doing really random posts in the off-season, we must now
naturally move on to pre-season friendlies. Pre-season friendlies are a time of joy for the
marketing heads of football clubs, assorted brands and Chinese-names-on-tshirt-writers. The global
tours of English clubs this summer have practically reached the opposite ends of the world,
everyone apparently glad to avoid the traffic back home during the Olympics.
Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are reportedly battling it out over Malaga star Salomon Rondon,
according to the player's agent.
Rondon has caught the eye of a whole host of clubs following a stellar season in which he helped
the Spanish side gain Champions League status for next year by banging in 11 goals.
Wigan Athletic winger Victor Moses has claimed both Liverpool and Chelsea are chasing his signature
this summer.
Moses admitted he was unsure over where his future lies – he has just a year left on his contract
at Wigan – but indicated he would be willing to move to either Anfield or Stamford Bridge.
With the first match of Euro 2012 just around the corner, there's a few significant Liverpool
notes to get to before we turn most of our attention to Poland and Ukraine. Most important is the
reminder for folks who haven't to join in the Liverpool Offside group for ESPN's Euro Manager. Noel
covered the details yesterday, but worth mentioning again for those late to the party that there's
a chance to win absolutely nothing while exposing your weaknesses as a fantasy manager!
Liverpool have been the biggest culprits when it comes to spending over the value for English
talent this season. With the new homegrown rules firmly in place it seems the chase for England's
hottest up-and-coming prospects is set to continue, or will it encourage more teams to gamble with
their own youth setup?
Tottenham and Liverpool could be about to reignite their interest in Ibrahim Afellay after it was
revealed that he is set to leave Barcelona on loan.
According to reports in Italy, Lazio are hoping to seal a deal to take the Dutch winger for the
whole of next season, as he attempts to get his career back on track following a six-month injury
lay-off.
Liverpool's plan of rejuvenating their leaky backline has been hit by the news that Inigo Martinez
has been ruled out for five months.
The Real Sociedad defender, who has been linked with a move to Anfield, suffered a horror knee
injury in his side's La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday that will now require surgery.
Spurs manager Andre Villas Boas knows only too well that a Premier League manager could easily find themselves out of work before the end of the season. We presume that's why he used his post-match press conference after Spurs' 0-0 draw with Lazio to suck-up to Uefa boss Michel Platini. AVB launched his manifesto for [.
During Harry Redknapp's finest wheeling and dealing days, a major tournament would be invariably
followed by a flood of new players at his club, most of whom were relatively unknown before those
tournaments began.
If our ex manager were still here, he might just be looking at the Olympics' top scorer Moussa
Konate – then again, because the Senegalese striker is the right side of 30 maybe he
wouldn't.
Manchester City will once again face a stiff challenge in the UEFA Champions League as they were
drawn against champions from three leagues in a highly competitive Group D.
The defending English champions will square off against German league and cup winners Borussia
Dortmund, Dutch Eredevisie winners Ajax, and Spanish champions Real Madrid.
"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic
conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just
that—and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious
beauty.
Newcastle United is one of  17 Premier League teams that will play in a new Under-21 competition
announced today, which is meant to bridge the gap between the U18 Academy teams and the first teams
at English clubs. Richard Scudamore Barclays Premier League CEO Teams from 17 Premier League and
six npower Championship clubs, [.
This comes courtesy of Matt Demlein, who offered to give a bit of a look at Montpellier, ahead of
tomorrow's friendly.
On Tuesday night, Sporting Kansas City plays the French Champions, Montpellier. Montpellier were a
surprise this past season, holding off Paris Saint-Germain during the second half of the season
despite having a budget that was smaller than the transfer fee PSG paid for Javier Pastore.
Lyon president Jean Michel-Aulas has alerted potential suitors that star goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
could be available for sale, with Tottenham Hotspur likely to emerge as the most interested party
in England.
France captain Lloris has attracted interest from all major English clubs in the past but given
that youngsters such as Wojciech Szczesny and David De Gea are set to remain long-term starters at
Arsenal and Manchester United, respectively, Lloris is poised to attract strong interest from the
Spurs.
Reading FC will start their second spell in the Premier League next season having emerged from
the pack in the Championship to lift the title by a single, solitary point. This, however, is a
club with a very lengthy history. Founded in 1871, Reading joined the Football League in 1920, but
the amount of time that they spent in the lower divisions means that finding archive footage of
them can be a little tricky.
This Premier League Season Has Been A Cracker - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Football in England this year has taken a bit of a kicking. The standard has generally been seen
to be lower than in recent seasons. The worst Manchester United side in living memory may still win
the title. In Europe all English clubs with the exception of Chelsea's miraculous run to the
Champions League final have underperformed.
Andy Najar's Olympic adventure has been a rousing success thus far, but the D.C. United winger
will face his biggest test Saturday.Â
Najar has played a major role in getting Honduras' Olympic soccer team out of its group and into
the quarterfinals, helping set up the all-MLS goal that led to Honduras' shocking win over Spain
and starting all three matches during the group stage.
Two teams dealing with the disappointment of having failed seasons in the Premiership will have
the opportunity to salvage their underwhelming campaigns, as Chelsea and Liverpool battle for the
FA Cup on Saturday.
The FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium (12pm, Fox Soccer Channel)Â will pit two sides looking to
put their rabid fans at ease by winning some silverware after, by their standards, below-average
seasons.
O'Dea hopes to be a key figure for Toronto FC. (Getty Images)
For the majority of the 2012 season, the biggest issue for Toronto FC was arguably their
defense, particularly in the area of center back. All of that may be soon changing as the club
announced today the signing of Irish international center back Darren O'Dea.
With the Mexican League season getting into full swing this weekend, and a plethora of
friendlies taking place, today will offer up plenty of viewing options for fans looking for a
soccer fix.
Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna begin their defense of their Mexican League title today with a
match against San Luis, while the morning's action is kicked off with some more Mexican soccer as
'El Tri's Olympic team takes on Japan.
The New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo have a long history with each other. The two
rivals met back-to-back years in the MLS Cup final (2006 & 2007), with the Dynamo edging the Revs
in both contests.
The rivals are once again in competition against each other, this time for the services of
Glasgow Rangers winger Sone Aluko.
Just as expected, the 2012 World Football Challenge has grown to add more teams. Today three
European powers were added to the list as Real Madrid, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain join the LA
Galaxy in the WFC.
The teams join English clubs Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC, along with MLS sides Seattle Sounders
FC and Toronto FC, in the event taking place July 18 through August 11.
Lewandowski and Piszczek could go to United and Madrid, says coach - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
According to Poland manager Franciszek Smuda, the Poland striker Robert Lewandowski (who
currently plays for Borrusia Dortmund) is "going to Manchester United". Manchester United recently
signed Lewandowski's Dortmund (former) teammate Shinji Kagawa and were strongly rumoured to be
interested in Lewandowski as well although Dortmund have so far refused to acknowledge that a
transfer might happen.
The earliest internationals in Philadelphia involved English clubs such as the Pilgrims and the
Corinthians, teams imbued with the spirit of amateurism who embarked on North American tours
between 1905 and 1911 that were motivated both by the desire to show Americans how the game of
soccer was meant to be played and to make money.
In Vienna in June of 2008, Fernando Torres broke free from his marker and shot the only goal in
the final of that summers European Championships. It was a goal that ended almost half a century
without a major tournament win for Spain, and it marked the calcification of new Iberian
footballing hegemony within Europe which continues to reign supreme to this day.
News in the Newcastle Journal this morning, that rich French club, Paris Saint Germain, have joined
the race to sign top French right-back Mathieu Debuchy. PSG have joined English clubs Chelsea and
Manchester City, as probably the three richest football clubs in the world, when they announced in
May of last year, that Qatari investors had [.
There will once again be plenty of ins and outs in this summer before the live football action in
the Premier League resumes, as clubs hope to close the gap on Manchester City, who themselves will
be looking to stay on top.
Both City and Manchester United have been linked with a move for the talented Belgium youngster
Eden Hazard, who looks set to leave Lille this summer.
Some Anglocentric lessons Learned from another bad week for English clubs in the Champions League 1. The European stock of Premier League clubs is falling faster than the BBC's. Nearly. After something of a purple patch for English clubs in Europe which saw two winners, six final appearances and numerous semi-final outings for THE BEST [.
Look, we know you want Fredy Montero. It's been pretty clear. You Russian clubs, you Turkish
clubs, you Dutch clubs, you English clubs and you Spanish clubs all want Montero. I just have a
little request. Enter Line "A" all at once. None of this on again, off again stuff. Step up and
bid, because Seattle wants Fredy Montero too.
As the USWNT moves from Glasgow to Manchester, and as players gear up for the thrill of playing at
Old Trafford, I thought this might be a good moment to reflect on the place of women's football at
Manchester United. My aim isn't to be a total killjoy (this story is depressing) but rather to
signal how far things have come and to suggest that all the women playing at Old Trafford should
feel the support of generations of players who could never imagine playing in "the theater of
dreams.
Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the hump-day edition of the Musket Rounds. The New
England Revolution aren't the most newsworthy team around, but the recent announcement of their US
Open Cup opponents has at least given us something to harp on. Like how, for example, it's going to
be held in Harrisburg, and I obviously can't go.
