1 p.m. on Prime and KWHY. Given what happened the last time these two teams met, this could be
another ugly game of potentially epic proportions for Chivas USA in what goalkeeper Dan Kennedy
called a "brutal" slump. How many of you will dare watch? Here's more from the Sounders
Every week the New England Soccer Today crew will look beyond the standings to rank each of
the 19 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. This week Sean Donahue and Ryan Lanigan contributed
rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker's name and the rank they gave that team.
Michael Gspurning was deemed "ready" by Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid following Thursday's
training. The assumption being that Gspurning is due to make his first start since May 2, allowing
for the obvious caveats that anything can happen between now and then.
Who gets their slump busted? That question will be answered on Tactical Retreat Day as we
celebrate our Independence from (our otherwise favorite) Brits Alan Hinton, Arlo White and Ross
Fletcher by watching the Sounders take on Real Salt Lake. For the fine people of Seattle they will
fit watching another attempt at victory into their 4th of July plans by watching KING 5 at 7
PM.
Just when the New England Revolution seemed destined for a loss at home, their youngest player
came through to prevent that from happening.
Seventeen-year-old forward Diego Fagundez netted a last-gasp equalizer to give the Revolution a
2-2 draw against the Seattle Sounders at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, marking a second
straight week that New England grabbed a result late.
It's officially a slump. A frustrating, often playing better, but still slumpy stretch. In a
match where Seattle Sounders FC dominated the chances created and entertained the crowd it was the
Columbus Crew that seized opportunity. The Crew's two opportunities were completed. Small defensive
mistakes opened that door and Columbus shut that door with authority.
Is 2012 the year of the slump? It sure looks that way. After all, Albert Pujols only yesterday
broke his career long home run slump. Toronto FC on the other hand have run out of ideas on how to
break their historic 0-8-0 losing streak. Meanwhile, the word "early" has probably left LA Galaxy
Manager Bruce Arena's vocabulary as they have lost two in a row.
The FIFA International dates make for slim pickins as far as Major League Soccer is concerned, with
only four matches taking place this weekend. While these matches may lack the "grandeur" of the
last few weeks (one has no playoff implications whatsoever), it gives us an opportunity to focus on
some struggling clubs we've overlooked to this point in the season.
A 92-day slump ended, 31 goals were scored and plenty of other talking points from a busy Week
19 in MLS. My weekly recap is now live over on SBNation.com. Go check it out!
The post 2012 MLS, Week 19: What We Learned appeared first on WVHooligan.com - MLS Blog.
Last week I was given the chance to talk to FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea on his involvement
with Deuce Brand watches. Below is a little interview with him on how things are going right now
for him, FC Dallas and why he is teaming up with Deuce Brand.
I feel like it's been ages since we last did one of these weekly posts. Now that the mini-break
is over, it is time to get back down to business here as the 2012 season rolls on into the month of
June.
Week 13 sees plenty of decent games including one big rivalry game down in Texas and the MLS
debut of Saputo Stadium in Montreal.
Steven Gerrard has backed the returning Lucas Leiva to once again underline his class to Liverpool
fans.
The 25-year-old was displaying his most consistent form since joining the Reds in 2007 when he
damaged his cruciate ligament at the tail end of last year.
Lucas, though, has now recovered from the injury and is poised to start the 2012/13 campaign at the
heart of Liverpool's midfield.
Paul Lambert has been unveiled as the new manager of Aston Villa.
The 42-year-old former Colchester boss has enjoyed a remarkable rise after guiding Norwich into
the Premier League and keeping them in a safe, mid-table position this season.
He replaces fellow Scot Alex McLeish, who was unable to rescue a slump for the Villains, after
relative success under now Sunderland chief Martin O'Neill.
Tottenham's Summer 2012 Transfer Targets - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
There's no hiding the fact that the wheels have come off Tottenham Hotspur's season, but what
did fans expect at the start of the campaign?
Whilst I believe that Champions League qualification was always the minimum standard required,
many fans are already looking ahead to the summer transfer window and who they want to see at
White Hart Lane in 2013.
Former Liverpool star Steve McManaman has criticized Kop boss Kenny Dalglish's selection policy,
after they slumped to a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Fulham.
The result marked the 14th time that Liverpool have failed to win at Anfield, and McManaman
questioned Dalglish's decision to rest players ahead of the FA Cup final against Chelsea on
Saturday.
Taking Tottenham to the next level: Part I The problems is a post from: Just Football
by Jake Meador
For astute observers of this year's edition of Tottenham Hotspur, the recent
swoon wasn't a surprise. Tottenham had been flying high all season and, being Tottenham, were due
for a slump.
Concerns about the striker's future were raised after his suspension following the Patrice Evra
affair, especially as Paris St Germain made their interest known.
Suárez's contract negotiations are continuing with the club and he was emphatic when asked about
his future.
"Yes, yes I will continue at Liverpool," he said.
1. OTP predicted magic from Hatem Ben Arfa a couple of weeks ago and he's duly delivered. What a
goal. 2. Yesterday we concluded that Spurs' slump was indicated by their regular appearances as the
last game on Match of the Day. Harry Redknapp would have killed for that spot yesterday! 3. The
Easter [.
Next we have a look at attendances over the years for London clubs, an analysis by b+w_geezer.
Fascinating stuff...
London Club  Playing Rank (of 96) Attendance Rank (of 96) Average Attendance  Playing Rank Minus
Attendance Rank Arsenal 5.8 4.6 38,776 +1.2 Tottenham 9.5 6.2 35,880
+3.
Next we have a look at attendances over the years for London clubs, an analysis by b+w_geezer.
Fascinating stuff...
London Club  Playing Rank (of 96) Attendance Rank (of 96) Average Attendance  Playing Rank Minus
Attendance Rank Arsenal 5.8 4.6 38,776 +1.2 Tottenham 9.5 6.2 35,880
+3.
Arsenal had just one clear remit left after all the other title hopes dried up one by one.
Booking a place in the Champions League. That was as Arsene Wenger put it as good as playing for a
title. Over the years one has learned what is most obvious to most is not so clear on a visceral
level to Arsenal.
The Columbus Crew had been losers of three of their past four matches, but they scored a
sorely-needed victory just before the all-star break to boost their chances of catching the playoff
pack in the East.
Midfielder Chris Birchall raced onto a Jairo Arrieta pass just after halftime and beat the
D.
The New York Red Bulls will put their unbeaten home record on the line tonight as they take on
arch-rival D.C. United at Red Bull Arena in a match that could see them catch D.C. for first place
in the East.
D.C. United is leading the Eastern Conference on the strength of a four-match winning streak,
but their 1-0 victory against Philadelphia showed a team that may have had some rust coming off the
long MLS break.
A week after coming back from a two-goal deficit to post a vital victory against Real Salt Lake,
the LA Galaxy found themselves on the wrong end of such a comeback, with the San Jose Earthquakes
finding yet another way to pull off a late-game result.
The Galaxy jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first-half of Saturday night's California Clasico,
but San Jose responded immediately to forge a comeback.
Brek Shea picked a good time to come out of his early-season slump.
Shea scored his first goal of the season on an 88th-minute effort that saw FC Dallas complete
their comeback to top the Montreal Impact, 2-1, at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas on Saturday
night. The result improved FC Dallas to 3-2-1 while it dropped Montreal to 1-5-1.
Cristiano Ronaldo busted out of his slump in a big way yesterday as Portugal beat Holland 2-1 and
advanced to the quarterfinals of Euro 2012. The Portugal captain had been held scoreless in the
team's first two group games. ... Continue reading →
In a vacuum, last night's draw in Colorado is a good result. KC ended their 3 game losing streak,
on the road in a place where KC normally doesn't get wins. Teal Bunbury got out of his goal scoring
slump picking up 2 goals, and Seth Sinovic returned to the first team.
Teal Bunbury opened his account with two goals against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, but even
that was not enough to put a halt to Sporting Kansas City's winless streak.
The Rapids rallied from a pair of early first-half strikes from Bunbury and picked up a point
with a 2-2 draw at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, extending Sporting KC's winless run to four
games.
KC continue their two game Pacific Northwest road swing tomorrow when they'll take on the Portland
Timbers at Jeld-Wen Field. Portland is struggling quite a bit at the moment. They've lost their
last 4 games, and are winless in their last 5. Of course a team that is struggling isn't always the
thing you want to face.
Heavens above. AANP ought to have known better than to wave away the whisky for five minutes
while real-life gubbins intervened, but since I last tapped at these keys there have been debacles
against Chelski and Norwich, followed up by rather professional dismantlings of Blackburn and
Bolton. What to make of it all?
With Chelsea distracted by the possibility of a first Champions League final victory, and
Tottenham's continued slump in form, Newcastle United appears to be in a prime position to claim
the final Champions League spot, a remarkable feat for a...
An eight-year-old Manchester City supporter has attempted to cheer-up Roberto Mancini after the
collapse of his side's title challenge by sending him a pack of his favourite sweets. The Italian
is often seem tucking into Fruit Pastilles during matches, so Megan Kinghorn decided that would be
the perfect pick-me-up after City's recent slump.
Kenny Dalglish reckons guiding Liverpool back to the summit of European football will not be an
easy task - but he is not afraid of the challenge.
Dalglish is regarded as the club's greatest ever player and earned a long list of honours during
his playing days.
This also continued in his first stint as manager at the club but the decline since he left has
been hard to arrest, with the club's last league title coming 22 years ago when he was boss.
As pointed out at NASN by Kelly McClain the Timbers' offensive numbers on average have started
to climb in the last few games. A lot of analysts and people who casually follow this league
probably look at the schedule and see Portland Timbers at New York and automatically write off
Portland's chances.
Behind the Axe looks at the aftermath of the loss in Montreal and my thoughts about what the
Timbers need to do in order to get out of this funk. While I still have optimism about what they
can accomplish this season, it's important that this team remain focused and together. That's the
only way they will break out of this slump.
Andres Iniesta was truly disappointed with Barcelona's failure in reaching the Champions League
final after being eliminated by Chelsea, but the Spanish international midfielder believes that his
team will come back stronger after this current slump.
Just like some of his teammates, Iniesta also believes that Barca's elimination from Chelsea was
not a fair result for them, considering how dominate they were in the two legs, but he believes
this situation will eventually be solved by them.
Well, this is a new one on us. Napoli arrested their five-game Serie A winless slump with a
2-0 home win over Novara yesterday, but not before the match had to be put on ice for nearly 20
minutes with just two minutes played while referee Daniele Doveri had to have his shoulder.
