Thanks to a first half spot kick from Napoli star Marek Hamšík, Slovakia edged out the USMNT 1-0 in Bratislava. The visitors were both shorthanded and short of ideas playing on a bumpy patch.Full report link and highlight reel to come, with my U.S. Player Ratings set to appear at S365 either tonight or early tomorrow. Click to continue reading...

Given - Match saving performance. Three superb saves and the penalty stop to 'win' the point. 8.5
Zabaleta - A strong performance, not a step out of place. Put more distance between him and Richards. 7
Kompany - Cool, calm and assured. Forged a nice partnership with Lescott in dealing with the lively front pair. Click to continue reading...

Almunia (7) Brought back into the starting XI for a big match and showed why he's probably Arsenal's best 'keeper at the moment. Despite some early rustiness, the Spaniard worked his way into the match and made some good stops most notably from Bentley's free kick. Sagna (8)- Defensively solid but attacking-wise absolute first [. Click to continue reading...

Given - Could have done better with the goal but redeemed himself with a fantastic block late on. 6.5
Zabaleta - First yellow was soft but the type of rash challenge we have seen before from him earned him red. 5.5
Bridge - Solid enough but perhaps hadn't fully recovered from the midweek injury. Click to continue reading...

Given - A quiet evening all round with barely a save to make. 6
Zabaleta - Tough night against the impressive Young. Held firm for the most part though. 6.5
Bridge - Looks to be gaining in confidence with each game. His forward play particularly impressive. 7.5
Toure - Looks far from past it. Click to continue reading...

The Game

How to describe a game which was so close to perfection and indeed confirming last Tuesday's performance just as I asked yesterday? I am the first to ask you people not to get carried away after a scintillating display and that's why I wanted to wait for today to see whether Fabregas and co.

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Given - A largely quiet night with one excellent tip over the bar. 7
Zabaleta - Offered quality when joining the attack and solid in defence. Justified his selection. 7.5
Toure - Looks completely at home and growing in stature with the captaincy. 8
Lescott - Struggled with the impressive Cole and one or two mistakes which could have been more costly. Click to continue reading...

Given - Solid presence once again and made a couple of important saves. No chance with either of the goals. 6.5
Richards - Impressive both in defence and going forward. Linked well with Wright-Phillips and a constant threat. Best game of the season. 8
Toure - Defence qualities are better than first thought. Click to continue reading...

Given - More smart saves and another assured performance. Has not put a foot wrong since he signed. 7.5
Richards - Struggled against the lively Moses after being booked early. 6
Toure - The new captain had a strong all-round performance both defending and coming forward. Click to continue reading...

Below are the tables for the statistics updates. Notable as well is that I did the player ratings for Prost Amerika. Top five in Productivity for the league are; Cunningham 1.65 Casey 1.58 Montero 1.51 Scheletto 1.48 Donovan 1.43 Omar Cummings is making a run as well with his big assist numbers. Offensive Productivity A look at Goals, Assists, Minutes Played and Productivity [. Click to continue reading...

Can we say we are safely through having secured a half-time lead? Well I think so, although it's a shame that we had to take the lead with a penalty coming from a dive from Eduardo.

Considering how easy the game is, I don't think we needed to invent a penalty so I'm disappointed with the Croatian, who kept his cool to score and make up for a big miss early in the half.

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Given - Marvellous save in the first-half to keep it at 1-0. Grows in my estimation with each game. 7
Richards - Another steady game and useful forays forward. A positive start to the season and appears to be regaining form. 7
Toure - A solid day at the office, comfortable on the ball and links in well with the front men. Click to continue reading...

Shay Given - Some solid saves under pressure but flapped at a couple of long balls. 6.5
Micah Richards - As impressive display as he has posted for some time. Justified his selection. 7
Kolo Toure - Brought composure to the back line and could be a key player. 7.5
Richard Dunne - Solid enough apart from one or two moments. Click to continue reading...

I feel like I should try to say something clever here. Something pithy but a little profound to put some perspective on what just happened. But all I can come up with is that was really, really awesome.

I suspect I'm like pretty much everyone else in that I expected this to be a really tough match I thought a 1-1 draw was likely, and a 2-1 win would have been great for us.

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So United took on Valencia in a match that I (for some reason) thought was supposed to be the Testimonial for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Perhaps not? Regardless, a rather young United side managed to knock two past their Spanish counterparts and managed to look rather convincing in the process.

Second half goals from Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley (both assisted by a once again impressive Antonio Valencia) gave United the victory, and made me even more excited about this Sunday's Charity Shield match against Chelsea.

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In keeping with the theme of catching up with belated news, here are the highlights from United's ongoing journey through Asia. United are off to a 2-0 start with five goals in their favor. The fact that they've played the same team twice and allowed a near comeback is nothing to... er... be worried about.

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The ratings for the U.S. Panama quarterfinal are in. Here are links to the ratings of Soccer365, Goal.com, Ives, and ESPN. As always, we give each source's average rating and list the ratings for each player in order lowest to highest. If you want to know what specific ratings a source gave, check out the source directly.

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A first half goal by Dwayne DeRosario put the home side ahead at half time, but the Canadian international's former team came back to tie in the second.
ASN's Mahmoud Shoblaq reports and player ratings for both teams.

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As you may have noticed, the experts weren't very consistent about supplying player ratings during the group stage. So while there was never enough data about a single match, I decided it was worthwhile to do group-stage reviews of all the ratings that players received. So, here are the group-stage ratings for each player organized by position.

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At the FC Dallas game this weekend on July 4th, I saw some encouraging signs for the future of the team. This season has been the equivalent of a year's worth of depressants hitting the system constantly. The team has been terrible, the crowds have been pathetic and the front office has been inept. It [. Click to continue reading...

Castrol GTX May Not Let Your Engine Break Down, But They Know How to Break Down A Game

In case you weren't aware, the ever-prescient governing body of soccer has partnered with Castrol GTX to develop the "definitive system" to rate player performance. Not only does it rate performance, but it rates performance objectively!

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I'd meant to do this yesterday, but had enough of a headache just getting my U.S. v Egypt Player Ratings and other day job duties done...#1 - Is anyone out there good with PhotoShop? I so very much wish I was capable of pinning a Globetrotters jersey, a basketball and huge 70's afro on this photo of Timmy Howard (hint, hint). Click to continue reading...

Three matches in eight days starts to wear on fans, on media, but mostly on players. The effect on this team was not fully apparent, as there was plenty of energy in a lineup that saw a few changes, but those changes were not what determined this outcome. Most often followers of a [...] Click to continue reading...

Alright folks, here are the player ratings for the latest US match, but with a twist: we compare the players with the corresponding apostles. Enjoy! First, we begin with St. Peters Pedigree - Tim Howard ... Click to continue reading...

I had a theory. The theory was that since there was such a dearth of Arsenal news, I would leave a reasonable gap between each post - that way I would still have something to write throughout the summer.
Well actually I didn't blog for three main reasons:
1) I had exams and had to pretend that I was revising. Click to continue reading...

A fourth minute goal by Stuart Holden held up as the game winner, sending the Chicago Fire to their first losing streak of the 2009 campaign.
ASN's Nicholas Smyth reports from Bridgeview, Ill., and supplies player ratings for the home side.

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When the U.S. soccer team plays in Costa Rica, the Americans resemble the doormat they used to be rather than the regional power they've become.
Player Ratings Click to continue reading...

Before I crack on with the second instal(l)ment of the player ratings, I have a little message:
This blog very rarely ventures into politics. However, for those who live in the UK tomorrow (Thursday) is European and Council election day. I don't mind who you vote for, but if you are eligible to do so, please HELP KEEP THE BNP OUT! Click to continue reading...

As promised, here is the first installment of my player ratings for the season.
I think it's easiest to work through the team from the back, although no doubt I'll forget somebody and have to include them later.
The way I rate players comes from my childhood: growing up playing Championship Manager: you have to be dreadful to get below a 5, a 7 is a good game, an 8 is an excellent game, and to get a 9 one has to do all but everything perfectly - maybe one misplaced pass; a 10 represents pure perfection. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United 0 - Arsenal 0
Match Report | Highlights

Lukasz Fabianski - Faultless performance from the young Pole in between the sticks. Sound in all areas, especially his distribution. Made himself big to keep out Carlos Tevez and maintain his clean sheet.

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Another game, another loss for FC Dallas. This one at Houston in the first leg of El Capitan. FC Dallas was done in once again by a lousy second half, with Houston's Kei Kamara getting the game's only goal in the 57th minute. With just four points from their first seven games, the team formerly known as the Hoops are in very real danger of falling out of contention. Click to continue reading...

Prost Amerika asked me to do the player ratings again, and so I did. Some may find them a bit harsh, but these are my thoughts, and so here I am to defend them as necessary. I will have my match analysis up late tonight or early tomorrow after I rewatch the game, but if [...] Click to continue reading...

Fabianski - 1 - It was Lukasz's 24th Birthday today. The Pole gave Chelsea two wonderful presents and secured their path to the final. Eboue - 4 - Attacking-wise Eboue was not bad at all. But when back in his own half defending Florent Malouda completely got the better of him. Toure - 6 - [... Click to continue reading...

Villareal 1 (Senna '10) - Arsenal 1 (Adebayor '66):
Match Report | Highlights

Emmanuel Adebayor scored a massive away goal to give Arsenal the slightest of advantages in their Champions League quarter-final against Spanish outfit Villareal. The hosts took the lead in the tenth minute when Marcos Senna rifled a long-rage shot into the top corner of the net after the Arsenal midfield failed to close the Spaniard down.

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Dears Spurs,
Thank you for Dimitar Berbatov. You're welcome for Frazier Campbell and the opportunity to pay off some of Darren Bent's awesome contract... that £16.5 million figure must look quite nice while you watch him nod sure-thing goals over the bar.

Sincerely,
United

First Half Highlights

Second Half Highlights

Here are the player ratings according to Goal.

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