There was hilarity on the Real Madrid bench at the weekend when left-back Fabio Coentrao kitted out in his sub's gear took his seat. Everyone on the bench apart from Coentrao seemed to know that he hadn't been named as a sub. Those who were legitimately warming the bench, including Iker Casillas and [.
There was a time not too long ago when the U.S. national team enjoyed a wealth of midfield
options and a lack of forwards. As the team heads into Tuesday's must-win World Cup qualifier, the
Americans are faced with the opposite problem.
Injuries to Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan have exposed a lack of midfield depth and left
Jurgen Klinsmann's team lacking attacking punch and stability.
David Silva hasn't spent a great deal of time on the bench since joining Manchester City. It turns
out that when he is dropped, the Spanish maestro likes to pass the time by playing very basic
practical jokes. The midfielder pranked a member of City's backroom staff as he came out of the
tunnel to [.
Last week the Sounders helped keep some playoff hopes alive by beating the Vancouver Whitecaps,
and in the coming weeks they have a chance to end those hopes with three consecutive games against
the two playoff hopefuls left in the West. Today's is the first of two against Chivas USA, a pretty
implausible playoff contender.
Good morning, welcome to Friday and as such the newsiest day of the week as we start to focus on
Sunday's game against Stoke.
Starting with some early team news and it looks like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back in
contention, for a place on the bench at least, while Laurent Koscielny hasn't yet recovered
sufficiently from his calf problem to be considered.
Wigan don't exactly play dirty football under Roberto Martinez, so you can understand why the Latics boss' outstanding English has some limitations when it comes to defending ridiculous tackles. The Spaniard was mitigating for Callum McManaman's horror tackle against Newcastle yesterday. He riffed on the standard 'hasn't got a malicious bone in his body' defence.
New Liverpool manager made it clear that Andy Carroll doesn't fit his plans and that he
would be willing to let him go. But with only three strikers in his squad and the transfer window
winding now, Rodgers might be forced to keep him around a little longer. This hasn't stopped
Newcastle from trying to get Carroll back on the cheap, though, and an offer to take him on loan
while Liverpool pays half his wages was rejected.
We've followed Steven Taylor ever since he was a 16 year-old back in 2002 during the reign of
the very great Bobby Robson, and at that time the Geordie lad was heralded as a top up-and-coming
player from Whitley Bay, a future Newcastle captain, and a future England center-back. Steven
Taylor will play tomorrow night against Olympiacos But most of that hasn't [.
Maybe Fabricio Coloccini hasn't yet got the word fully from Alan Pardew, that the plan this summer
is to significantly dampen expectations for next season, as once again the Newcastle captain has
come out and said the lads can have as good a season as the last one. Coloccini talks to coaches
Carver and Stone [.
Summer signing Oliver Giroud has had a bit of a rough time in the English Premier League so far, by
both the fans and the pundits. His performances have deserved some criticism as he hasn't performed
to his maximum, but every player takes time to adapt, its different for individual players. There's
no doubt that [.
Since England didn't appreciate how brilliant he thinks he is, 24-year-old Nicklas Bendtner has
moved from Arsenal to Juventus on a season-long loan. The Serie A champions apparently met his
"three demands" of any club interested in procuring his services and now he's wearing a turtleneck
and trying to play down his scientifically-proven superhuman self-confidence in order to make a
good first impression.
Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba has announced his retirement from professional football. Muamba
hasn't played since he suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during an FA Cup match against
Tottenham in March. His heart stopped for 78 minutes, but the ex-Arsenal and Birmingham man somehow
battled through to make a remarkable recovery after spending a [.
When your club hasn't won a trophy for seven seasons, as a squad you could be excused for feeling
the pressure going into the new campaign. But that certainly isn't the case at Arsenal despite the
barren run of silverware, as Gunners defender Andre Santos and midfielder Alex Song enjoyed a
relaxed game of penalties [.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has come out strong in the press with his line that the club will
fight to keep Robin van Persie. It's a losing battle, though. The player hasn't been included in
the tour of the Far ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article
The Young and talented English man has been out injured for a while now. Just like Aaron Ramsey
had been not so long ago, and I have to wonder what his return will be like.
Most gooners would agree that Jack Wilshere , When fit, Should be one of the first names on the
team sheet.
It's that time of year when the new kit is launched and you need to get down to the Armoury to
get your new Red and White (with a dash of an alien colour) shirt.
I've looked on Newsnow and watched the new signings clock in. and I've decided I want a
Podolski shirt.
So before setting out I thought I had better check Arsenal.
Why hasn't Walcott re-signed with Arsenal? by BA The fact that 23-year old Theo Walcott has just
one year left of his current contract at Arsenal has gone largely unreported while Robin van Persie
is in the news daily shows how important the two players are deemed to be. Now Arsenal are in
danger of [.
The U.S. men's national team's road to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil hasn't been the smoothest.
While the team managed a 3-1 win in its first World Cup Qualifier against Antigua and Barbuda in
June, the Americans faltered a few days later on the road in Guatemala and tied 1-1. The next two
qualifiers [.
Brazil hasn't been this nigh to the amber medal in men's soccer since Romario was a bright immature
adept in the belated 1980s. It's up to Neymar, the future of Brazilian soccer, to extremity tenners
of defeat.
I have to make this one quick guys and gals. One MLS game on the schedule tonight and it should
have many eyes on it.
Columbus Crew at New England Revolution: Another midweek game for the Crew. I
believe this is the third week in a row for that (might be the second, it's all running together
for me at this point folks).
It only seems like it's been forever since George John and Ugo Ihemelu were paired together in
the FC Dallas backline as one of the better center back tandems in all of Major League Soccer.
Ihemelu hasn't played since May 6 due to concussion symptoms and honestly may not see the pitch
again this year while John only recently returned from concussion issues of his own.
Article by Anders Aarhus
There was plenty to talk about with the MLS All-Star game last night as MLS defeated Chelsea 3-2.
But just as intriguing as the victory was the interview with MLS commissioner Don Garber at
halftime. Halftime interviews can be a waste of time, but kudos to the cast of ESPN, specifically
Kasey Keller and Alexi Lalas, for asking some tough and direct questions.
Going into Wednesday's afternoon match between New York and Chicago, Thierry Henry was fifth in
MLS with nine goals this season even though he hasn't scored any since April 28. In the 71st minute
of the match, Henry ended that streak by chesting down a cross and pinging his shot off the far
post for his 10th goal of the season.
So last night was fun wasn't it? When I started writing this I thought the only thing I'd be
able to say was "and then that was awesome". So prepare yourselves. Everything below the jump is
going to a giant thing of positivity. Well almost everything. The negativity isn't even really that
bad.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers hopes Martin Skrtel will sign a new deal and is not aware of any
bids for the defender.
Skrtel gave an interview in Slovakia, suggesting there had been interest in the 27 year-old, but
just like the supposed interest in Luis Suarez from Juventus, Rodgers hasn't received any formal
offers for the player.
It's thought that Tottenham's Danny Rose could be on his way to Aston Villa on a season long
loan for 2012-13. The versatile left sided player was unhappy at a lack of squad rotation at Spurs
during the last campaign and it's felt that his opportunities at White Hart Lane will be limited
for now.
With the odd snipe here and there over the summer, it's easy to get the impression that Andre
Villas-Boas hasn't quite got over his Chelsea exit and now we have the video evidence to prove it.
Well sort of. Off The Post contributor Will Watson, who served us up a tasty FA Cup exclusive [...]
At 11 a.m. Wednesday in Manchester, England, the leaders of Stoke City of the English Premier
League will make the case that U.S. national team center back Geoff Cameron of the Houston Dynamo
is worthy of getting a UK work permit. Because he hasn't made the required national team
appearances for an automatic work permit, [.
Ever since Ron Gourlay was quoted after Chelsea returned from their pre season tour of America, the
press as usual, have gone into overdrive.
Chelsea, ever since Roman Abramovich took over, have been linked with all sorts of players in every
single transfer window and it's pretty much become the "norm".
Brian Sciaretta at Yanks-Abroad.com reports that the transfer fee has been agreed to between MLS
and Stoke City (several outlets reports this as well). No firm numbers, but I've read $2.5 million
a lot. Personal terms between Cameron and Stoke are reportedly close to being worked out and an
appeal hearing for his work permit has tentatively been scheduled for August 3rd.
The U.S. Women's National Team is one step away from a Gold Medal game against Japan in a
rematch of last year's World Cup Final, but to get to that game the Americans will have to beat a
familiar foe in Canada (2:45pm, NBC Sports).
The Americans are a perfect 4-0 in Olympic play, having posted three straight shutouts.
It seems as if those who were concerned that FC Dallas might be receiving a damaged bill of
goods when the club signed veteran striker Blas Perez earlier this year might have truly been onto
something. Of course, "Super Raton" hasn't played for Dallas since May 26 at Real Salt Lake as he
continues to be bothered by a foot injury suffered in a World Cup qualifying match for Panama in
late May.
Even though the Chicago Fire will be off this weekend, there will still be a few matches this
weekend that should interest Fire fans. All of these matches will impact the Fire's playoff chances
and the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. All Matches are available on MLS Live unless
indicated. A list after the jump.
The Indonesia Super League is mumbling about starting up again in November. There was initially
talk that a unified league would kick off in January but given the lack of progress on that
particular front the ISL seems to want to go it alone placing it on another collision course with
FIFA and the AFC.
Drew Moor hasn't played for FC Dallas for almost three years now after the Dallas native was
traded to Colorado in Sept. 2009 for current FCD captain Ugo Ihemelu. But before being shipped to
the Rapids, he had nearly four good seasons with Dallas. One of his teammates during that span was
Bobby Rhine, the former FCD player turned broadcaster and front office employee who left us way too
early last September.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic hasn't wasted anytime showing his superiority to his new PSG team-mates,
first he puts Nene to the ground with a blow to the ribs and not content on doing one of his
team-mates, big Zlat then catches Jeremy Menez on the eye and sat out the rest of the session
holding an ice-cube to his eye socket.
You'd be forgiven for not noticing but both Barcelona and Spain have been without David Villa
for the best part of eight months since the forward splintered his shin bone
during the Club World Cup semi-final in Yokohama back in December of last year.
Yes, they do actually play soccer in China. Yes, it is almost as exciting as it is here. Aging
euro-stars that aren't performing up to expectations? Check. Fierce rivalries complete with epic
trolling? Check. All-Star team at the bottom of the table? Check. Interestingly enough, they may
actually have a hooligan problem.
For the second time this season, Leo Gonzalez has found himself fined by the MLS Disciplinary
Committee after "embellishing contact" while getting tangled up with Real Salt Lake's Alvaro
Saborio.
The play involved Gonzalez coming up behind Saborio, who was accepting a pass from the
backfield, and initiating enough contact for both players to go to the ground.
Juan Roman Riquelme always said he would like to retire in a Boca Juniors jersey, but last
night's 3-1 aggregate defeat in the Copa Libertadores final against Brazilian side Corinthians was
surely not the way he wanted to go.
Shortly after Boca's ouster, the 34-year-old attacking midfielder and former Argentine
international informed gathered reporters of his decision to leave the club effective
immediately.
