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.
Alan Gordon's penchant for late-game heroics have saved the San Jose Earthquakes a number of
times this season, and they have now also helped earn the forward a call-up to the U.S. men's
national team.
U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann added Gordon to the roster that will take on Mexico in a rare
friendly at Estadio Azteca on Wednesday, U.
There were not many surprises when Arsenal confirmed their official squads for this season's
Premier League campaign, except for the inclusion of the midfielder Craig Eastmond, who featured in
Arsenal's 3-0 defeat of Everton in the U21 League on Monday. The other surprises for me are
Sebastien Squillaci and Andrei Arshavin, who everyone thought would [.
Another match to add to the good memories section. Arsenal picked up 3 points in a tough away
ground and kept a clean sheet. A scoreline that reflected that special night in 1989. The new boys
got into the act and all ducks were broken. An old boy but haven't been seen for such a long time,
decided to make an appearance.
The earlier pre-season friendlies didn't quite excite me as much. Maybe it was the fact that
many first choice players were missing that necessitated the inclusion of many youngsters who
clearly weren't going to play a major part in Arsenal's season. These issues also made is pointless
to look at the tactics of the team or indulge in any sort of detailed discussion of the events of
the games.
As soon as Gareth Bale took to the field to face LA Galaxy in the early hours of yesterday
morning, collective eyebrows were raised at the Welshman's inclusion. Having pulled out of the Team
GB Olympic squad last month, he wasn't expected to play any part in this US tour and his appearance
in the 1-1 draw sparked a chain of controversy.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has played down suggestions that his partnership with Lukas
Podolski and Robin van Persie can be impacted due to all three players being left-footed.
Giroud joined Podolski as Arsenal's second high-profile summer signing earlier this week and
speculation quickly became rife that his arrival could spell the departure of skipper van
Persie.
Theo Walcott is confident that England and Arsenal teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will return
to the Gunners squad for the pre-season much stronger than before after taking part in this
summer's Euro 2012 tournament.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was a shock inclusion in Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad for Poland and Ukraine
but the 18-year old didn't stop there; he also earned his first start against the in-form France
last Monday.
Our final league season at Highbury was special. Not only because it would be our last every
league/cup fixture at the majestic old ground but for a more tactical reason. That season also saw
us reaching the final of the Champions League. Contrasting that to our fortunes in the domestic
league, eventually only sealing 4th place on the final day when our closest rival failed to win
their own game.
Our final league season at Highbury was special. Not only because it would be our last every
league/cup fixture at the majestic old ground but for a more tactical reason. That season also saw
us reaching the final of the Champions League. Contrasting that to our fortunes in the domestic
league, eventually only sealing 4th place on the final day when our closest rival failed to win
their own game.
Our series of posts this week has analysed the various impacts geography can have on the fortunes
of soccer clubs. To round things off, we thought we would examine a cross section of eight cities,
towns and city regions which can be said to be under performing in football terms and which may or
may not have the potential to rise to Championship status or above.
Expect a flood of transfer rumours – and hopefully some activity before 11pm on Friday as the
club enters the market following the sale of Luka Modric.
One of the reported targets is Fulham's Moussa Dembele – a player who Martin Jol compared to
Rafael van der Vaart last season but could our former manager be tempted with a couple of Tottenham
outcasts as potential bait?
According to reports Brendan Rodgers is preparing to offer Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam to
Fulham in order to sign Clint Dempsey.
The Reds have been keen on signing the American International but have been unable to agree a
deal with Fulham, who value Dempsey in the region of £10million.
Liverpool are ready to up their bid for Fulham's Clint Dempsey to a player plus cash deal, with the
inclusion of Charlie Adam, according to the Daily Mail.
The United States midfielder seems to be the top target for new Reds boss Brendan Rodgers and he is
willing to let Adam leave in order to get his man.
Goals, All-Stars and DP's
The Official Podcast of MLSReserves.com. In this episode Luke and Pedro discuss the recent trend of
high scoring matches in Major League Soccer, the amazing play of Chris Wondolowski and what it
takes to be an MLS All-Star. Debated were Eddie Johnson's inclusion and whether Dax McCarty
deserves a spot.
David Beckham was the most notable inclusion in the Great Britain's 35-man provisional
Olympic squad submitted this week. The list represents the latest stage in a process that will end
with the announcement of Stuart Pearce's final 18-man team on July 6.
There has been a huge amount of debate around who will be the three overage players in Pearce's
squad.
Bangor City winger Les Davies is on a 32-strong list of players vying to be named as Uefa's best
player in Europe. The 27-year-old is one of the most unlikely names on the list. He goes
head-to-head with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. His unexpected inclusion is
believed to be a quirk [.
With the inclusion of Titus Bramble's lawyer you've got three top class defenders there. . The
Greg Meyer Column . Â Sunday June 3 2012 .. Rafael's Birthday. . Â Vertonghen versus Vermaelen
versus Titus Bramble.  .  The name on every Spurs fan's lips.Not Luka Modric but Jan Vertonghen
and you can bet every England fan of a North London persuasion was watching his every move at a
Messi? Who? I only want to be better than Bendtner. I can do the underpants thing too.
It's been decided. The winner of the last 2 World Cups will contest the final on Sunday. Italy
played the perfect game to see off the challenge of Germany to set up a rematch of their group game
against Spain.
What better way for Euro 2012 to show its inclusion and appreciation of the women's game than to
have a ladies game involving Denmark and Germany, taking place 24 hours before the men's teams face
each other to determine qualification for the quarter-finals of the tournament? Unfortunately, the
two teams didn't exactly do their bit [.
Jordan Henderson insists any criticism that comes his way will only act as motivation as he bids
to make his mark on Euro 2012 with England.
The Liverpool midfielder was a late inclusion in the Three Lions squad for the tournament after
Frank Lampard was ruled out due to injury. Manchester City's Gareth Barry was also forced to
withdraw.
Stewart Downing has hit back at recent criticism of his record at Liverpool, despite failing to
score or produce an assist all season.
Downing joined the Reds for £20million from Aston Villa last summer but couldn't hit the target or
produce an assist in 36 Premier League games.
The former Middlesbrough man's inclusion in Roy Hodgson's England squad for Euro 2012 was met with
a mixed response, with a number of pundits pointing out the fact Downing didn't provide a single
assist all season.
This article titled "Euro 2012 live blog: 7 June" was written by Barry Glendenning (morning) and
Paul Doyle (afternoon), for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 7th June 2012 08.18 UTC
9.05am:Good morning everybody, Glendenning here. Let's get the ball rolling with David Pleat's
six players to watch during the tournament.
This article titled "Euro 2012: David Pleat's six players to watch in Poland and Ukraine" was
written by David Pleat, for The Guardian on Wednesday 6th June 2012 15.11 UTC
Alan Dzagoev (Russia)
The CSKA Moscow talent has won a major battle to get fit for inclusion in the squad. Born in
1990, he will be one of the youngest players in the tournament but Dick Advocaat knows the
importance of his linking skills behind either Pavel Pogrebnyak or Roman Pavlyuchenko.
TweetEngland boss Roy Hodgson has named his 23-man England squad for Euro 2012 with Rio Ferdinand
left out and Steven Gerrard being named as captain. The squad was announced on Wednesday afternoon
with the biggest talking points being the exclusion of Rio Ferdinand and the inclusion of Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Selection fears for England internationals after Hodgson's arrival - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
The arrival of a new manager should bring fear and anxiety to players – but for all the right
reasons. Out with the old and in with the new, this is the time for players to impress the new
manager.
"If you are good enough, you are old enough." This adage can be heard around the halls of
Liverpool's training ground, Melwood. Along with an inclusion of youth, the Liverpool squad of
2012/13 has already seen drastic changes for the ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.
La Liga: Just Football's Team of the Season 2011-12 (minus Messi and Ronaldo) is a post from:
Just Football
by Ashley Escobar
The subjective nature of football is never more obvious than when a "team of the season" is
composed. There are often a few obvious names who demand inclusion whilst other names are thrown in
due to the way the composer of the team enjoys his or her football.
Today, Jurgen Klinsmann named the rest of his US national team camp roster ahead of their upcoming
friendlies and World Cup qualifiers. Sporting KC midfielder, Graham Zusi was one of 11 players
today named to the team to round out the 27 man camp roster. Twenty-three of the players on the
camp roster will make the rosters for friendlies against Scotland (5/26), Brazil (5/30), Canada
(6/3), and World Cup qualifiers against Antigua (6/8) and Guatemala (6/12).
