Impressions are still fresh, which makes it easier to indulge in hyperbole, but during the first 45 minutes against Schalke, Gladbach delivered some of the finest team football the Bundesliga has seen this season. On top, there was a goal for every personal preference in football artistry anyone could have: a great individual goal by Marco Reus, an even greater team goal finished off by Mike Hanke and a beautiful goal from a free kick by Juan Arango.

While I'm relatively certain that most dedicated followers of MLS will know what United are getting with the likes of Maicon Santos and Danny Cruz, there's still an element of mystery surrounding the acquisitions from the mid-tier Euro-leagues. Most of us see precious little from Swiss or Austrian clubs outside of perhaps the odd Europa League highlight.

If Paul Jewell were to be sacked today, I really don't think I'd feel any sorrow.
Don't get me wrong: I'm not starting any protests to demand he be removed from my club. (As I've long been saying - changing managers on a regular basis is not going to get us anywhere.) But I am rapidly losing patience with him.

The dust has settled somewhat from part one of our interview with former U.S. Men's National Team forward and current Fox Soccer analyst Eric Wynalda.
Part two includes our conversation about working for Fox Soccer, what it's like to put on the red, white, and blue and play for your country, owning a soccer team, and his favorite beer.

The trio of Wisconsin players at the Major League Soccer Combine did their best Tuesday to leave good final impressions on the league's coaches and general managers before the SuperDraft.

Tony Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW-Green Bay) and Calum Mallace (Marquette) came off the bench and scored in an eight-minute span in the second half to help spark the adiPower team beat adiPure 4-1 in the last of six matches at the Combine in Lauderhill, Fla.

By Chris Wright

Two years ago, this young urchin by the name of Daniel Levine briefly delighted us with his impressions of Wenger, Mourinho, Henry and by saying 'kwality' eerily like Rafa Benitez.

It's taken a while, but he's back with a new-and-improved canon, which takes in a few fresh voices alongside his old standards including the scatter-gun vocal styling of Emmanuel Adebayor.

The United States were unfortunate to not get a better result in their 1-0 loss to Ecuador in a friendly at Red Bull Arena last night.
They created a number of good chances early on in the match, and conceded a late goal for the final 1-0 scoreline.
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America gives some of his impressions following last night's match.

Good first half. Familiar lack of finishing. Weak second and predictably punished. The defense did look better organized (at least until Bocanegra left) though uncomfortable against the quick counter, something that should have Mexico salivating. Anyway, just a few thoughts...
* Chandler looked really impressive at the problem left back spot.

By Walter Broeckx As on Untold we do like to make the new players feel like home it is important that you get to know the players a bit more. So I will try to give you some impressions on Per Mertesacker to start with. To start with he was born on September 29, 1984 [...]

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. –Always his analytic yet positive self, Jurgen Klinsmann spoke to a group of reporters during a group interview in Los Angeles and outlined his plans for the U.S. National team.

Wanted: Player impersonations

On this week's Friday Night Live on LFC TV we want your impressions of Liverpool players and managers past and present.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-08-23 17:49:31 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Your impressions wanted

On this week's Friday Night Live on LFC TV we want your impressions of Liverpool players and managers past and present.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-08-23 15:01:40 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

- Jason Davis Sick of my voice yet? Wait, don't answer that. Jared and I, in our usual time slot, have a new American Soccer Show for your listening enjoyment. We hit on our impressions of Klinsmann's debut, address a few of the more notable performances from Wednesday, talking about the good vibes that everyone is buzzing on, and consider the next steps in the next round of friendlies.

At my request, site user 'Geordiedug', a Geordie currently living in the New York, has very kindly agreed to write about his time at the Columbus Crew game, and also with the lads at their hotel. Below are his impressions of both the game, and meeting the players. Many thanks Geordiedug! workyticket.

Well it seems that JT has been the one person the media has really focused on in these early stages of our pre season tour to the far east. Yesterday he was quoted talking about Luka Modric and then afterwards about Fernando Torres but now the focus turns to Andre Villas-Boas.
JT was quick to admit that we under achieved last season and it's now up to every single player to prove their worth at Chelsea once again under AVB and so far, the impressions of him as manager has been good.

I attended tonight's meeting between the Revolution front office and the Revolution supporter's groups (really open to any fan that knew of it) as a self-proclaimed "unbiased observer."

I'm "unbiased" in the sense that I'm not a Revolution supporter's group member, I have no capacity with the team, and I was not there on the night that the ruckus began in earnest.

The talk today is all about ratings with Fox Soccer issuing a self congratulatory press release because of its outstanding ratings from the Gold Cup Final. The FSC broadcast reached more than 950,000 viewers, crushing the previous FSC record set during the last Gold Cup Final. The Nielsen rating for the match was a solid 1.

You know the old line, "It was a game of two halves." And so it was on Saturday.

In the first half the Union managed five shots, only one of which was on goal.

Keon Daniel's placement at left fullback seemed to offer a steady assuredness from the back that resulted in fewer long balls over the top and, consequently, over the midfield.

The USA managed to rebound from a distressing 1-0 win over Guadaloupe with an emphatic 2-0 win over Jamaica on Sunday afternoon at RFK. Jared and I took to UStream immediately after the match to give our impressions, get fan reaction, and consider what has changed since last week in Kansas City. Thanks for listening.

I used to think Barcelona's Xavi was a bit of a bastard. From his cocky swagger, his vocal pursuit of Arsenal Captain Cesc Fabregas last summer, and that frustrating half-man, half-boy haircut, my impressions ...

It wasn't the fairytale ending we were all hoping for. But for any fan in red to argue that we deserved something out of this game would have been a serious disservice to the way the Spanish champions dominated us.

We fared better than our showing from 2 years ago. But that wasn't exactly very difficult to do.

Our 2 primary concerns coming into this game was firstly, to ensure that we put out a strong enough squad and performance so that our selection would not come under FA scrutiny. Secondly, we needed to ensure that our key players would come away from this weekend's encounter injury free and ready for Wembley.

The next morning's reflection blog...
I write this on the Sunday morning after a pleasant Saturday evening at BMO Field. I am finding that my thoughts and observations of the game are not coming to me in a smooth narrative flow, but I am developing an understanding for this (replace "understanding" with "hare-brained theory designed to cover for my flaws").

1 point. That's all we need from our remaining two fixtures to win title # 19 after an amazing display against Chelsea.

This was the first league game in a while where we played like would-be champions. Far too often this season, the knock on us has been a group of rather average over the hill players who somehow manage to grind out unimpressive results.

What an efficient and entertaining display by the lads. Let's not forget as well that we had most of our second team out to start the game.

On to the impressions:

1. Smalling and Evans surprised me. Smalling made the most of the opportunity with a very good outing save for the misplaced pass that led to their goal.

This was not a good weekend for us.

Chelsea grabbed all 3 points against Spurs in somewhat controversial fashion with a little help from Gomes. We then went out to the Emirates and got beat by a rampant Arsenal side who started off the game playing the kind of football that has won them a multitude of admirers.

We promise photos tomorrow (the YNT Blog is having issues with its USB cord) - but Tuesday evening included a short drive to the home of Dave Dir, a longtime assistant with the U-20 MNT who is currently in his fifth cycle with this age group.
Dave must have cooked 50 burgers and just as many chicken breasts on his grill - enough food to feed either an army or 20 starving soccer players.

In many respects an interview is not unlike an internet date. You read about the person you're going to meet, and form some advance impressions – but everything still rests on those first few minutes in each other's company, when you find out if you're going to connect.
If this interview really had been a date, I think I might have made my excuses and slipped away quite quickly.

There was no contentious refereeing decision for us to hide behind today. We were quite simply outplayed at Anfield.

Our starting 11 was full of surprises. Out went the favored 4-5-1 for tough away fixtures and in place, we saw Berba getting a rare start and Fletch only getting a spot on the bench.

It wasn't pretty and the scoreline didn't do Wigan justice especially the way they played in the first 45, but a win is a win. With 2 massive games coming up next week, we'll take the 3 points in any shape or form.

Impressions:

Rooney – Should probably have been sent off for that flailing elbow in the first half.

(Photo by Jose M. Romero)

By JOSE M. ROMERO

Early impressions of the No. 1 overall MLS SuperDraft pick, Omar Salgado: The kid can play.

His height stands out immediately. At 6-foot-4, any defender is going to have a hard time with him in the box, even the most physical centerback, because he has to not only push Salgado out of the goal area but keep him as far away from the 18-yard box as possible.

That was a fun one wasn't it?

It didn't even remotely resemble the incredibly boring encounter at the City of Manchester Stadium back in Nov. The first 10 minutes of this game produced more action than the entire 90 minutes of the previous meeting between the two.

Straight to the impressions:

1.

After narrowly winning our 2 prior encounters against Wolves this season, the team in orange finally got their just reward. On a day when Arsenal's capitulation at St James Park eclipsed our own rendition against Everton, we failed to capitalize and were thoroughly outplayed at the Molineux. Our spotty play this season has finally caught up to us and that question of whether or not we could go the season unbeaten has finally been answered.

Impressions (some are more rants):

1. How much more time do we give Gibson before completely writing him off? I've been saying (to myself as much as to anyone else) that we should temper our frustration at the younger players with an understanding that they need to mature into their positions and understanding of the game.

Almost as if in response to the post measuring his "effectiveness", Chicharito strikes yet again to secure our passage into the next round. The scoreline doesn't even begin to tell the story of how poor we were for the first 45-60 minutes prior to the 2 substitutions that changed the complexion and fate of the tie.

Having had time for the emotions to subside after a fantastic come from behind win, I realize again how little I care about being undefeated. Sure, it'll be nice to equal the feat of the Invincibles, but at the end of the season, that's not the ultimate prize. I don't think going undefeated and winning the league are mutually exclusive.

Well, maybe not in the first half...

What an encounter... A 100 minute game.

Chicharito has won us how many points now this season?

And seriously, what do they put in the water that Giggsy drinks?

More impressions to (hopefully) follow.

It's always difficult to assess a game like this since Birmingham really didn't show up today. It would be too easy to look at the scoreline and assume it was a first class display.

We struggled to put in a decent performance against them at St Andrews a few weeks ago. Yet, today at OT, we looked brilliant largely because they were poor and invited the pressure on themselves from the get go.

With only two days before the MLS SuperDraft the Seattle Sounders should know their direction, and of course they do. What they also know is that with their significant amount of second round picks they see a great opportunity to add depth. Which is what they need.

Sigi Schmid sees the draft as lacking high end talents, but great depth.

The MLS Combine is rolling along, in Florida and while I was unable to attend to provide first hand coverage, there are plenty of journalist and bloggers enjoying the annual showcase of new potential talent. So for this week's Monday Morning Centre Back, I'm going to provide a link round-up of all the news I could find from this weekend's events in Florida.