You could probably say that no one deserved the UEFA Super Cup trophy more than Atletico
Madrid and their Colombian wizard Falcao, whose glorious hat-trick handed
Chelsea a 4-1 drubbing tonight. But Adrian Lopez and Arda
Turan, creators of Falcao's goals, also deserve high praise for their wonderful display
against an uninspired Chelsea side who defended poorly and had clearly been blindsided (which
tactics video had Di Matteo been examining?
A marriage made in hoofy heaven if ever there was one, king of the long ball game, Big Sam
Allardyce has secured the services of pony-tailed target man Andy Carroll from Liverpool in a
season-long loan or, at least, a fee has been agreed ahead of the paperwork being
rubber-stamped.
That he has found himself sailing too close to the wind is something Andy Carroll has been
accused of before, but Brendan Rodgers' recent comments have left the towering striker closer than
walking the green mile to the precipice of the Anfield cliff.
Both the BBC and Sky Sports News are reporting that Newcastle United have sensationally lodged a
loan move for Liverpool striker Andy Carroll. Carroll's £35 million move to Liverpool can only be
described as unspectacular to say the least, and there's only one club who benefitted from that
transfer (hint: it isn't Liverpool).
Both the BBC and Sky Sports News are reporting that Newcastle United have sensationally lodged a
loan move for Liverpool striker Andy Carroll. Carroll's £35 million move to Liverpool can only be
described as unspectacular to say the least, and there's only one club who benefitted from that
transfer (hint: it isn't Liverpool).
He doesn't want to leave but Brendan Rodgers has no place for him
A £35m striker on the trading block. Never thought this would happen because in Andy Carroll's
defense, he was probably the best thing that happened to Liverpool at the end of last season.
Something woke up the target man and he showed he was capable of being ambitious as well as
effective for the Reds.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert refused to rule out a loan move for Liverpool striker Andy
Carroll.
Lambert watched his Villa side defeat Burton Albion in a pre-season friendly, thanks to an own goal
and a strike from new signing Brett Holman.
Post-match attentions turned to Villa's summer transfer activity, with Lambert linked to Liverpool
forward Carroll.
Can England escape from this group? (Getty Images)
By Geoff Reid
Group D England
Somehow for some reason England is ranked 6th in the world, which it's known that FIFA's ranking
system is flawed and nobody takes very seriously, but you wouldn't think they were with the tone
new manager Roy Hodgson has been using, and other leading pundits and coaches.
They kept their first clean sheet of 2012 and outside of two incisive runs from Sebastien Le
Toux, the Whitecaps had very little offense of which to speak. True they were without target man
Eric Hassli and midfield maestro Camilo Sanvezzo, but the Union's four man backline, finally
reunited, got the job done.
Newcastle United 2-0 Liverpool Premier League 1st April 2012
Returning to Newcastle for the first time since moving to Anfield, misfiring Liverpool striker
Andy Carroll once again failed to live up to even a bit of the £35million paid for him by Kenny
Dalglish.
You've got to take your hat off to Peter Nowak. Just when Philadelphia Union fans think they've
seen every possible formation, he rolls out a 3-2-2-1-2.
The narrowest formation, EVER
While we too frequently focus on the nuances of how a team lines up for kickoff, Nowak's
3-2-2-1-2 represents just about the most narrow possible alignment of eleven players on a soccer
pitch.
Transfer targets continue to be linked with a summer move to Spurs and in the main these are old
names that we're already very familiar with. One story suggests that the club will be back in for
Marseille's Loic Remy at the end of the season but could there be another French striker on
Tottenham's radar?
The latest chapter of the Jose Moreno Saga unfolded on Thursday when Revolution general manager
Michael Burns admitted that the Colombian striker would not arrive by the anticipated Mar. 1
deadline.
Speaking with the media via teleconference in Tucson, Ariz., where the Revolution is preparing
for Saturday's championship game of the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup tournament, Burns said that
Moreno is on his way, but could not specify when the striker would arrive.
After an up and down summer of sport and jubilation and Euro penalty heartbreak (again), the
honeymoon is now over and it's back to the hard graft of the football season. I'm doing it in the
usual predicted back to front styly. Van Persie followed in the usual Arsenal tradition and jumped
ship to Man U but will he hit it off with Rooney, I'm not so sure.
With Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, and Jamie Carragher rested with an eye to Saturday's FA Cup
semi-final against Everton, Martin Skrtel captained an under-strength Liverpool against
Blackburn.
Morning all I'm back from Florida and first up for me after missing out on Napoli, Leicester and
City is this lunchtimes mouthwatering game at the Bridge against Spurs and what a change in fortune
for both sides coming into this one.
A couple of weeks ago Spurs were flying under Harry Redknapp, winning games and playing well then
England happened and ever since his side have faltered in recent weeks.
In something of a change of pace from our normal Musket Rounds, I would like to place a clipping
right up here at the top of the page in an effort to put the spotlight on it that it deserves.
After that, on to New England Revolution news and other links as usual.
The Beautiful Game: Fair Trade And Soccer " The Shin Guardian
This is an excellent article in TSG's Beautiful Game series that spotlights Senda Athletics, a
fair-trade soccer ball company.
The week goes on, and what a week it is! The New England Revolution are still shedding dead
weight ahead of the September 15th roster freeze, and there's been a development in the allocation
order department as Luis Robles has agreed to sign with MLS and enter the process. Apart from that,
there's the massive controversy over the thrilling USA vs.
The New England Revolution picked up their first victory of the season as they rode Saer Sène
goal after only 28 seconds to defeat the Portland Timbers 1-0.
It was the first career victory for head coach Jay Heaps after the Revolution (1-2-0, 3 pts.)
suffered back-to-back losses on the road to start the season.
We're just one day away from the New England Revolution home opener against the Portland
Timbers, and there's a palpable buzz in the air if you're a soccer fan around the Hub. Meanwhile,
there's been quite a bit going on in soccer while we prepare for this momentous event, including
the kickoff of the USA's Olympic Qualifying campaign.
Aspiring coach Sean Monaghan was in attendance off Burnside to witness some Ferreira
wizardry.
A hot Sunday afternoon at Jeld-Wen Field greeted two teams struggling to heat up in the Western
Conference, Portland and FC Dallas. Both teams started the game out playing 4-2-3-1, with Scott
Sealy and Kris Boyd the lone strikers for their respective teams.
Nicolas Anelka, aka, Le Sulk, faces the ultimate dilemma of his career: how does a
player who has hated all his coaches handle being a player-coach? Does he hate himself? Has he
always hated himself? Before we get to the armchair psychology and dramatic conclusion, let's
look at how Anelka reached this delicate point.
Tampines Rovers' continental campaign is in danger of not having themselves crossing the AFC Cup
group stages for the first time since their participation with 1-0 defeat to Malaysian club side
Terengganu FA at JBS.
A horrific start to the game when Tampines's' custodian Sasa Dreven and defender Benoit Croissant
gifted Terengganu FA's Joseph Kalang Tie a perfect gift when the duo's miscommunication resulted an
one-nil lead in less than five from the kick-off.
"A game of Chess is like a sword fight....you must think first"*
The final quarters conflict takes place at The Olympic Stadium on Sunday night and out of the
four match-ups, this one is definitely the hardest to call.
Jonathan Wilson explains why England won. A 4-4-2 formation is chicken soup for the English
soul. There is nothing wrong in a perfectly laid long ball when you have a target man who can
exploit the opposition's weakness. Roy Hodgson is a visionary.
Walcott inspires England to comeback victory - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
England came from behind to beat Sweden 3-2 on Friday night in an exciting and end-to-end match,
with Danny Welbeck getting the winner for Roy Hodgson's men, whilst France saw off co-hosts Ukraine
2-0 to set up a tense last day in Group D.
Yes, I have to start out the scouting report talking about Brian Mullan, even though he's far
from the most likely player to have a significant impact on the game. Sounders fans have been
increasingly chided and cautioned over the last few weeks by the media as well as the organization
to just leave the poor guy alone - cause garsh shucks bygones is bygones - to the point that if
every fan doesn't give him a handshake and a wet kiss on the cheek, we've embarrassed the
franchise.
Three out. Two in. Gary Smith has been a busy man since Boro's exit from the FA Cup at
Tottenham.
The three players leaving were all unused substitutes at White Hart Lane and have all moved on
loan deals until the end of the season. Peter Winn has gone back to his roots, joining Grimsby.
Phil Edwards has also returned to his native Lancashire linking up again with former boss John
Coleman at Rochdale.
(a) Target Man A big strong centre forward that can hold up the ball and wait for colleagues to support him usually good in the air and holding the ball up. Example: John Carew at Aston Villa was a good example of a target man: big, strong and holds the ball up well. Example: [...]
For the second game in a row, Michael Parkhurst has hit the winner - but in far more dramatic
circumstances. With 15 minutes left, the U.S. man accepted a target man lay-off to leave the home
keeper no chance for the 1-0 at AGF Aarhus. The victory restored the Superliga holders to third
place through six rounds.
Doherty Soccer is an independent site that covers the Rochester
Rhinos and US Soccer. The following article is one half of a two part article on the strengths,
weaknesses, players to watch and storylines for tonight's game. For the rest, visit Doherty
Soccer.
How hard do we try to fit the Sounders offensive woes into our preconceived narrative? Fans of
teams like Barcelona and Brazil see the Rave Green as too direct. Fans of Fucito, Nyassi and other
speedsters see a lack of that now. There still isn't a traditional target man, as Eddie Johnson
drifts wide and prefers the ball at his feet unless he's banging in a cross.
Okay, you're Martin Jol, Fulham manager. You've just left behind the land of windmills to help
the cozy Cottagers of London again prove that tradition more than bank account matters, even in the
British Petroleum League sorry that BPL moniker always messes me up.
Chelsea won last night and got their tactics spot on. Terry and Cahill put their bodies on the
line, Mikel marked Messi (almost) out of the game, and Didier Drogba acted as a target man and
dived around like it was 2006. Footballers took to Twitter to give their opinion on the diving
Drog, and [...]
