Liverpool Kop 22 November @ 03:25 PM EST
On Friday, Rafa Benitez emphasised the importance of beating Manchester City when he described the
encounter as a 'make-or-break game' for Liverpool's season. Given the club's horrific run of bad
luck and bad results, it was Benitez's responsibility to make the kind of positive decisions that
could enhance the team's chances of winning.
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bridge views 22 November @ 09:35 AM EST
Yesterday's afternoon stroll saw Chelsea put four past a hapless Wolves, yet never get – or
need to get - out of first gear. Essien was the driving force at the core of the Chelsea machine,
but his fine showing was rivalled by the 30 minute outing for wonderkid Gael Kakuta.
The first five minutes of the ninety suggested we would witness a spirited performance from Wolves,
and Mick McCarthy's men did carve out two or three reasonable chances.
Click to continue reading...
DCUMD 22 November @ 08:40 AM EST
Continuing the series where we vote "River" for players that we want to see DC United cast away and
we vote "Life" for players that we hope will return, let's take a look now at DCU's defenders. I
have a feeling this group will prove more interesting than the defensive midfielders, who received
mostly favorable ratings.
Click to continue reading...
Wayne Rooney was made
England captain last weekend for England against Brazil due to
injuries to John Terry and Rio Ferdinand
. Man United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson has
said that if Rooney wants to be Man United captain, he will have to wait.
Sir Alex has been quoted as saying:
"I have never really been an advocate of centre forwards
being captain. Click to continue reading...
Reina
Carragher Skrtel Agger Insua
Mascherano Lucas
Kuyt Gerrard Babel
Ngog
Goals:Skrtel 50'
Adebayor 69'
Ireland 76'
Benayoun 77'
Paid the price for sitting on a lead and for poor marking on set plays. And, of course, less than
10 minutes later, Liverpool went behind to an incredibly dubious goal.
Click to continue reading...
Arseblog 21 November @ 04:21 AM EST
Right, well football's back and we can finally put the Interlull behind us. Obviously there was
plenty about Thierry, Ireland and France and what have you at Arsene's press conference yesterday
but I think enough has been said on here about it.
The only thing I will comment on is his call for technology to be used to help referees.
Click to continue reading...
Landon Donovan was named the 2009 MLS Most Valuable Player on Thursday, and while it is tough to
argue against awarding the U.S. national team star for his performance this season, the MVP results
still raised a glaring question.
What about Shalrie Joseph?
It isn't a question so much about choosing between Joseph and Donovan, which is a subjective
debate that has supporters on both sides.
Click to continue reading...
Landon Donovan was named the 2009 MLS Most Valuable Player on Thursday, and while it is tough to
argue against awarding the U.S. national team star for his performance this season, the MVP results
still raised a glaring question.
What about Shalrie Joseph?
It isn't a question so much about choosing between Joseph and Donovan, which is a subjective
debate that has supporters on both sides.
Click to continue reading...
Sunderland
Position: 8th, 5-2-5 (17 points, +1 goal differential)
Recent Form: DWLDL
Home Form: 4-1-1
Last Meeting: Arsenal 0-Sunderland 0 (2/21/09)
Back in action at the Stadium of Light tomorrow, for what I expect to be a very tricky
match.
Click to continue reading...
Finishing up our "what did we miss out on?" series today:
FELIPE MELO Arsenal were probably linked with Felipe Melo this summer more than
any other player. The biggest difference between Arsenal's 2007-2008 season and our 2008-2009
season, which saw the club take a large step backwards, was the absence of Mathieu Flamini.
Click to continue reading...
Anfield Talk 19 November @ 03:56 PM EST
Alberto Aquilani is in contention to make his long-awaited full Liverpool debut on Saturday as
Rafael BenÃtez looks to the £20m summer signing to reinvigorate the club's season against
Manchester City.
The Italy international has played only 21 minutes for Liverpool since arriving from Roma in
August, as a substitute against Birmingham City and Arsenal, because of his recovery from ankle
surgery plus illness.
Click to continue reading...
The United States played two tough European opponents and were defeated in both matches. But we
certainly learned something from both games, and thus this European Adventure has been useful for
Bob Bradley.
- The US has its style: tactically Bob Bradley is modeling his team after what Carlo Ancelotti
did at AC Milan.
Click to continue reading...
Anfield Talk 18 November @ 01:38 PM EST
Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera are in contention for a surprise return to the Liverpool squad for
Saturday's clash with Manchester City after some controversial therapy.
They have been treated by a Serbian physiotherapist credited with accelerating recovery from injury
with the use of placenta cells.
Click to continue reading...
Carrying on from our look at the goalkeepers and defenders in Part II, it's now time to address the
midfield and forwards. Once again, note that I'm including the loanees and injured reserve guys in
this roundup. Midfielders John DiRaimondo: With...
Click to continue reading...
Photo by ISIphotos.com
Almost eleven months ago, during a sunny week in South Florida, you could tell the 2009 MLS
Draft Class had the potential to be special.
During the rough days of the MLS Combine, even as player struggled with fitness and playing with
their new teammates, there was a sense that this year's crop of talent had the potential to provide
MLS with a serious infusion of talent.
Click to continue reading...
Photo by ISIphotos.com
Almost eleven months ago, during a sunny week in South Florida, you could tell the 2009 MLS
Draft Class had the potential to be special.
During the rough days of the MLS Combine, even as player struggled with fitness and playing with
their new teammates, there was a sense that this year's crop of talent had the potential to provide
MLS with a serious infusion of talent.
Click to continue reading...
Drury's Emily West in front of MSU's Rachel Weimer
Drury Panther standouts Nicole Williams, Jessie Sanderson and Emily West have been named to the
Daktronics All-Midwest Region women's soccer squad, the organization announced on Tuesday.
Williams, a sophomore forward who led the Panthers with 11 goals this season, and Sanderson, a
junior keeper who posted 11 shutouts in Drury's 13-5-0 campaign, were named to the First Team.
Click to continue reading...
Drury's Emily West in front of MSU's Becky Handley
Drury Panther standouts Nicole Williams, Jessie Sanderson and Emily West have been named to the
Daktronics All-Midwest Region women's soccer squad, the organization announced on Tuesday.
Williams, a sophomore forward who led the Panthers with 11 goals this season, and Sanderson, a
junior keeper who posted 11 shutouts in Drury's 13-5-0 campaign, were named to the First Team.
Click to continue reading...
As you know, we complain about injuries, even though a lot of other clubs (Liverpool, Chelsea)
have plenty of injury problems of their own. But we now have fully eleven players injured, and
crying doesn't help, so why not have a little fun with it?
Our 11 players could be configured into a lineup:
Fabianski
Traore-Djourou-Clichy
Denilson
Walcott-Wilshere-Diaby-Vela
Bendtner-van Persie
An unconventional formation, sure.
Click to continue reading...
By now you've heard that the MLS has dropped their official Best XI. And while we'll get to that
at the end of this bit, there's a better way to do that. Some players in the mix didn't belong
there. Hence the reason to build OleOle's own version of the best XI.
Without further adieu, here we go.
Click to continue reading...
First the list, then the thought.
Goalkeeper: Zach Thornton, Chivas USA.
Defenders: Geoff Cameron, Houston; Wilman Conde, Chicago; Chad Marshall, Columbus.
Midfielders: Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto FC; Landon Donovan, Los Angeles; Stuart Holden, Houston;
Shalrie Joseph, New England; Freddie Ljungberg, Seattle.
Click to continue reading...
photo by ISIphotos.com
Kenny Cooper has been struggling for playing time with TSV 1860 Munich lately, and now it
appears he will have to wait even longer to get on the field.
Click to continue reading...
photo by ISIphotos.com
Kenny Cooper has been struggling for playing time with TSV 1860 Munich lately, and now it
appears he will have to wait even longer to get on the field.
Click to continue reading...
Soccerblog 16 November @ 09:17 PM EST
Why is this man not in the All XI?
Its the numbers you produce and not the little things that you do on the pitch to improve your
team which seems to drive the MLS All XI. Even when you factor in stats it does not seem to add up
to why Cuauhtemoc Blanco was left out.
Blanco played 21 matches, started in 15 of them and in 1452 minutes of playing time he scored 5
goals and 8 assists.
Click to continue reading...
Garber gave an earlier and less formal state of the league address than he has in years past in
a teleconference with reporters today.
Garber announced the MLS Best XI during the call, which includes one player apiece from the
Galaxy and Chivas USA:
goalkeeper - Zach Thornton
defenders - Chad Marshall, William Conde, Geoff Cameron
midfielders - Dwayne DeRosario, Landon Donovan, Stuart Holden, Shalrie Joseph,
Freddie Ljungberg
forwards - Conor Casey, Jeff Cunningham
Other major talking points included:
*A reiteration MLS is looking to become a 20-team league.
Click to continue reading...
Major League Soccer announced its Best XI on Monday, with no real surprises among the
selections.
MVP finalists Landon Donovan, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Cunningham headed the group, while MLS
Goalkeeper of the Year Zach Thornton also got the nod.
Here is the MLS Best XI
GOALKEEPER- Zach Thornton
DEFENDERS- Chad Marshall, Wilman Conde, Geoff Cameron
MIDFIELDERS- Landon Donovan, Shalrie Joseph, Stuart Holden, Freddie Ljungberg,
Dwayne DeRosario
FORWARDS- Jeff Cunningham, Conor Casey
What's our take?
Click to continue reading...
Photo by ISIphotos.com
Major League Soccer announced its Best XI on Monday, with no real surprises among the
selections.
MVP finalists Landon Donovan, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Cunningham headed the group, while MLS
Goalkeeper of the Year Zach Thornton also got the nod.
Click to continue reading...
MLS announced it's 2009 Best XI today and one Fire player, defender Wilman Conde, made the list.
It's the first time on the Best XI for the 27-year-old Conde, who made the list despite missing 11
regular season games due to injury.
The honor caps a solid season for Conde, who was a rock in the back for the Fire and even
contributed two goals and two assists on the year.
Click to continue reading...
WVHooligan 16 November @ 03:27 PM EST
Today Major League Soccer has announced it's Best XI for the 2009 season.
Keeper: Zach Thornton
Defenders (3): Chad Marshall, Wilman Conde, and Geoff Cameron
Midfielders (5): Dwayne De Rosario, Landon Donovan, Stuart Holden, Shalrie Joseph, and Freddie
Ljungberg
Forwards (2): Conor Casey and Jeff Cunningham
Some shockers may jump out at your like Seattle's Ljungberg.
Click to continue reading...
An injury-riddled, star-lacking USMNT team lost 1-0 to Slovakia over the weekend. I didn't watch,
so I don't have much to add.
Seems like a fair result on the road. Here's the tweaked lineup for the upcoming Denmark friendly:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann, Troy Perkins.
Click to continue reading...
Project 2010 16 November @ 01:16 PM EST
The USA played the first of its pre-World Cup friendlies against Slovakia on Saturday. With
nothing to play for, Bob Bradley utilized the opportunity to test his team's depth. The
results? Despite the 0-1 defeat, there were more positives than negatives.
Most promising of the group were the performances of our center backs and central midfield.
Click to continue reading...
I wish Arteta was fit so I could replace Lampard with an absolute on the ball
genius
This international break has not been meaningless by any means- in fact, it's
been quite exciting as Nic Anelka gave France a 1-0 lead over Ireland, and former Fantasy Premier
League stars Obafemi Martins (Nigeria) and Amr Zaki (Egypt) got their countries one step closer to
South Africa as well.
Click to continue reading...
EPL Talk 15 November @ 05:54 PM EST
With the international break nearly over, the excitement of the Premier League will be back with us
and Manchester United will be looking to get back to winning ways against Everton at Old Trafford
at the weekend.
Following the Chelsea defeat I began thinking about what the best Manchester United eleven
actually is?
Click to continue reading...
1 for 2 isn't bad when you're picking Soccer matches and last night the boys from Salt Lake came
through and defeated the Fire 5-4 in Penalty Kicks. I'd take total credit for picking this one,
but RSL didn't manhandle the Fire like I thought they would, but now I think we something else we
need to discuss concerning the two teams who will vie for the MLS cup this season.
Click to continue reading...
