Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers wants to shield Raheem Sterling from the hype which has proved a
millstone for other potential stars in the Premier League.
The 17-year-old has been earning rave reviews as the positive spark in his club's otherwise poor
start to the new season and he has been tipped for a bright future.
I have to say I really thought we played well. Considering Newcastle will be up there challenging
for the top four positions this season, Chelsea put in a great performance and were worthy
winners.
I think if you are a Newcastle fan, you would agree that you really missed Tiote in midfield and
the new boy Anita struggled to bridge the gap.
Come on Chelsea fans I want to hear from as many as possible on this. With no disrespect to Wigan
or Reading, Newcastle is our first of the bigger games this season especially as we still have what
happened at the Bridge towards the end of last season fresh in our minds.
Chelsea have started with two wins from two and will be looking to take another three points
against Alan Pardew's good Newcastle side and as we all know, this is far from being a home banker!
Come on Chelsea fans I want to hear from as many as possible on this. With no disrespect to Wigan
or Reading, Newcastle is our first of the bigger games this season especially as we still have what
happened at the Bridge towards the end of last season fresh in our minds.
Chelsea have started with two wins from two and will be looking to take another three points
against Alan Pardew's good Newcastle side and as we all know, this is far from being a home banker!
For the neutrals it must have been a good game, for us it was another "typical" Chelsea display in
a game that on paper, Chelsea should have won easily.
Now I mean no disrespect to Reading and their fans at all when I say that, but let's put things
into perspective here. A newly promoted side come to Stamford Bridge on a Wednesday night, on
Chelsea's first appearance at the Bridge since winning the Champions League and with plenty of
attacking talent on the pitch, surely it's a home banker isn't it?
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers felt harshly treated by referee Phil Dowd after seeing Liverpool
crash to a 3-0 defeat at West Brom on the opening day of the Barclays Premier League .
Dowd awarded two second-half penalties, the first of which also saw Daniel Agger red-carded and
the second awarded for Martin Skrtel's foul on Long which was tucked away by Peter Odemwingie.
Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic is glad to have made his return to football with
yesterday's goalless exhibition match against Norwegian side Valerenga but has hoped for more
urgency from his teammates starting with next week's friendly against Barcelona in Sweden.
United and Barca won their respective leagues in 2011 and also squared off in a massive
Champions League final at Wembley, with the latter comfortably emerging the winner with a 3-1
score.
Doesn't it just feel good to get a win again? The Columbus Crew were probably the hottest team
in MLS going into Wednesday night's clash in Foxboro; but they were exhausted and far from home,
and the New England Revolution took advantage. It was a trap game for the Crew and a much-needed
vote of confidence for the Revs.
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.
17-year-old Diego Fagundez made his second start of the season on Saturday. (Photo: Walter
Silva)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. The New England Revolution set the club record winless streak on Saturday
night, failing to win their tenth straight match in playing to a dire scoreless draw with the
Philadelphia Union at Gillette Stadium in front of 11,841.
Well, that wasn't fun. The New England Revolution went to Toyota Park insisting that they were
going to cut out the defensive mistakes, and instead made two major errors on the way to a 2-1 loss
to the Chicago Fire. The first goal was a penalty, no question; Brad Feldman and Jeff Causey can
babble and bluster all they want about it being a bad call, but that was a good call by the ref,
who had a pretty good game overall.
Just over two weeks ago the New England Revolution looked primed to make a run at the playoffs.
The club was in the midst of a five game unbeaten streak, sitting in sixth place in the East and
closing in on the fifth and final playoff spot while preparing to face the worst team in the
league, Toronto FC, at home.
Saer Sene's first half goal on Sunday wasn't enough for the Revs. (Photo: Joshua Pearson)
CHESTER, Pa. – The New England Revolution scored first and held a 1-0 first half lead against
the Philadelphia Union, but maintained their disastrous road form, giving up two second half goals
in an eventual 2-1 loss in front of 18,598 at PPL Park.
Dude, that was horriffic. Can we blame the turf? Gillette Stadium? Unfair. Poor Danny K out for the
season with a torn ACL. Just when it was OK to put away the umbrellas, here we are on the cusp of
another sh*tstorm.
Strangely enough, Toronto did hold off New England long enough to take all the points and are in
the midst of a 2 game win streak.
Revolution right back Kevin Alston, shown here taking it past Red Bulls defender Conor Lade, was
instrumental in the defense's shutout against New York on Sunday. (Photo: Kari Heistad)
Lee Nguyen and Jerry Bengtson grabbed the headlines for their offensive displays in the New
England Revolution's 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls, but it was the defense that was the key
to victory on Sunday.
The Revolution earned a big three points tonight as they defeated their I-95 rivals the New York
Red Bulls at Gillette Stadium thanks to goals by Lee Nguyen, his third of the season, and brand new
Designated Player Jerry Bengtson, his first of the season in his very first appearance. The Revs
sought out to not only secure three points but also put together a complete defensive performance
without any mistakes, both of which they were successful at tonight.
Gael Bigirimana had a very good game for Newcastle on Sunday in a very important position, as
defensive midfielder, and Alan Pardew today had sang the praised of the former Coventry City
player, and said Gael got better as the game went on. Gael Bigirimana excellent game on Sunday And
surely this is the [.
So pre-season began in earnest yesterday with a 2-1 over a Malaysia XI, although it took a
couple of late goals to do it.
Having gone ahead in first half injury time with a belter of a goal, the Malaysian side looked
fit and determined to cause a 'shock'. We looked very much like a team which was playing its first
real game and although we never really clicked we missed a number of very presentable chances.
Suarez pays tribute to an injured Lucas after scoring...
Image: sportpulse.netLiverpool secured their progress to the group stages of the Europa League
last night after a 1-1 draw with Hearts. The Reds were supposed to go through with ease but a
rather dire majority of the game was only livened up when Hearts found a goal late on, luckily for
Liverpool Luis Suarez managed to find a return.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers played down Joe Cole's injury after the playmaker was substituted
during the Reds' 1-0 Europa League third qualifying round victory over Gomel.
Cole, who spent last season on loan at Lille, lasted just 23 minutes before he was replaced by
17-year-old Raheem Sterling at the Central Stadion in Belarus.
In a showdown between two teams with Fenway Sporting Group connections; Liverpool, the John
Henry owned team had to bow before the Thomas De Benedetto led faction which took over Roma last
year.
Michael Bradley who joined Roma earlier this month scored from a tight angle after Erik Lamela
put him through.
Michael Bradley and AS Roma took Fenway Park by storm on Wednesday night in Boston, defeating
Liverpool FC 2-1 in a preseason match. Bradley got on the scoresheet along with Alessandro Florenzi
for the winners, while Charlie Adam provided the sole consolation goal for the Reds.
The first half was actually dominated by Liverpool.
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,
Matty Jollie, and Brendan Schimmel.
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 Corey Major,
and Matty Jollie.
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,
Matty Jollie, and Abram Chamberlain.
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,
Matty Jollie, and Abram Chamberlain.
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,
Matty Jollie, and Abram Chamberlain.
Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 to win the Spanish
Supercopa yesterday, and really, image of Marcelo doing an abruptly executed
Capoeira hand-stand in the middle of the pitch says it
all!Jose Mourinho's pep talk must have played its part in the
pre-match preparations how else can you explain the euphoria in the photo above?
Since I also had the match preview this week I got most of my thoughts out in that. So, the
preamble for this gamethread isn't going to be very long. It will be a late game for most of us not
on the West Coast, but it's going to be a good game nonetheless. For those wondering, the game
should also be on MLS Live, so if you aren't in Chicago and have a Live account, you should be able
to catch it on there.
Their Words "I think it was a pretty good game actually. We had plenty of possession and made some
great openings without actually finishing them. But I have no criticism of my team tonight, they
applied themselves well." Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. Other Sources Mexico-USA is
prime-time hit - from Soccer America's Paul Kennedy: Univision averaged more than 4.
Pre-season friendlies can often tell us very little about our side and how it's progressing for
the real battle ahead. As the campaign draws closer however, the matches seem to get tougher and
our match against Valencia tomorrow night could be a good pointer as to how we are developing under
AVB.
While the June schedule was tough, and the results even worse and the July schedule was tough
with decent results August is a month in which one trophy can be won and two others can be set-up
for success. Any shot at the Supporters' Shield will demand a month with many points. There's the
opportunity to lift the Open Cup with one good game and the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League
starts with the longest competitive trip the Seattle Sounders have taken in their MLS history.
Last week, I caught up with all-time leading USA goal scorer, Landon
Donovan - a short profile and some thoughts on how American soccer should pursue its own
style and method.
Landon Donovan was in the Bay Area last Saturday scoring for Los Angeles Galaxy
in his team's 4-3 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes before a sell-out crowd at Stanford.
"It was a good game, a lot of goals. FC Dallas is an interesting team, with good players, well
coached. So we're leaving happy with an important victory. [It was a great result for us] not
playing at home. I am glad we were able to pick up a victory in front of a lot of Leon fans." -
Leon coach Gustavo Matosas Paidon
The post Quote Sheet: Leon at FC Dallas appeared first on 3rd Degree.
Welcome to yet another player ratings! I'm happy to report that, well, we have something happy
to report this week as the Portland Timbers put in an overall valiant effort in securing three much
needed points in this year's Cascadian Cup competition. While the regular MLS season remains
dismal, at least the Timbers are looking like a strong candidate for taking home the regional
cup.
Predictably, the women in stripes, but sometimes just navy blue, are unavoidable this morning in
any media, courtesy of their last-minute defeat of Canada yesterday, which, yes, was a remarkably
good game. Good for them. In case you're somehow missing it, allow me:
U.S. Women's Soccer Team Beats Canada in Olympic Extra-Time Thriller
U.
Colombia played a good game: they have hustle and you can see flashes of real skill in their ball
handling. But they were clearly frustrated by the USWNT, which seemed sometimes relaxed and in the
groove and sometimes distracted. But they were dominant nevertheless. Those flashes of insouciance
would have driven me mad - nothing worse than playing a team that's thinking about the next match
while it's dispatching with you.
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.
I chatted with Zach Woosley over at Dynamo Theory for a 3 questions exchange ahead of tomorrow
night's matchup at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Fire are riding a 3 game win streak into the match and
will be looking to build on that. Our questions for Dynamo Theory are below. They have not had time
to get questions to me yet but if they do, I will update the article to reflect those answers.
