We are a few whiskers over 500 days away from finding out whether US's central defense is ship-shape, though we may never get there because this is one hellacious qualifying campaign. Yes, qualifying this year will be more volatile than Facebook's post-IPO stock price during a Long Term Capital crisis.
What's that singular one-moment which says the most about US Soccer, progress, regression, promise?
In 2009, TSG picked "The Counterattack Heard Round the World" which was the height of the US team's "Confederation Cup" moment. It was a play of beauty. That play just narrowly edged the Charlie Davies Salute at RFK.
Steve Fenn writes for TSG & BigDSoccer (a fantastic publication on FC Dallas). Be sure to check out TSG's Game Day Catch-all post, Orange Slices: USA v. Jamaica Like most US soccer fans, I spent the last couple day grousing about Klinsmann's Kingston catastrophe, letting my fear of qualification failure lead to anger, anger lead [.
Alex Oshansky pops his TSG with this insightful piece on The Rooster, Brek Shea. You
can find great soccer analysis and difficult to digest spreadsheets from Alex on his own blog,
Tempo Free Soccer.
Brek Shea was a promising young MLS talent at the start of the 2011 season.
And hopefully this review and the game this evening is an anomaly or just poor writing.
In the ultimate warm-up game that was the first stop in World Cup qualifying on the road to
Brazil, the US stumbled forward, but forward nonetheless beating Antigua & Barbuda 3-1 on soggy
home turf in Tampa.
Will Tropical Storm Jerome be shut down by the Pitch Police? Stay tuned...
And now Canada and Brazil don't matter. Nor Scotland for that matter. Actually none of it
matters. Wipe out the past two years aside from that "missing the Olympics" thing because now it's
just going to be Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps it's World Cup qualifying
season.
Danny Williams' place on the U.S. men's national team roster for next month's friendlies and June's
World Cup qualifiers is in jeopardy.
The TSG 1899 Hoffenheim midfielder/defender is out for the last two games of the season after
injuring his shoulder. According to Hoffenheim's web site, he will need to miss the next 4-to-6
weeks while recovering, which would make him fit right around the time that the U.
Joe Gyau's quest for first-team playing time may involve a drop down to the 2. Bundesliga.
According to second-division German side St. Pauli, Gyau trained with the club Tuesday ahead of
a potential move from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. It is unclear whether that move would be a loan or
permanent, but either way it would provide Gyau for a chance at first-team minutes that he is not
receiving at Hoffenheim.
Wir sind ganz tief am Boden, haben uns viel vorgenommen. Wir haben unser Bestes gegeben, aber
man muss heute sagen, es reicht nicht für die Bundesliga.
Tobias Sippel, Torwart des Tabellenletzten 1. FC Kaiserslautern, spricht seinem Team nach der
Niederlage am 29. Spieltag gegen die TSG 1899 Hoffenheimdie Bundesligareife ab.
(TSG will publish on an abbreviated schedule this week. The hamster needs some R&R in the Mentawaiian Islands.)
Real vs. Manchester City the headliner today. Can someone please build either one of those Schwarzanegger soundboards for Jose Mourinho quotes.... or at the least a language in Google Translate.
Rough end of week for TSG. We'll have more stuff next week.
Enjoy the final days of August(a).
Man City v. Liverpool the big one in Britland. RBNY vs. Sporting KC (and unfortunately no chance
for another Espinoza-Henry tete-a-tete) the big one from the domestic selection.
Some quick takes courtesy the TSG DVR and laptop. Oh and for all those that slammed: Missed only one on the starters, JFT instead of Terrence Boyd. Go: 10• Winning the numbers game. Thankfully. Our USA-Jamaica Game One review called out the Klinsmann coaching staff for failing to put the right numbers and configuration in [.
Steve Fenn writes for TSG & BigDSoccer (a fantastic publication on FC Dallas). Be sure to check out TSG's Game Day Catch-all post, Orange Slices: USA v. Jamaica Like most US soccer fans, I spent the last couple day grousing about Klinsmann's Kingston catastrophe, letting my fear of qualification failure lead to anger, anger lead [.
I'm sure you read that title and thought, "Who?" "What?"
Goldman & Zack (*sorry guys, couldn't help it)
Well, meet Max and Zack Goldman, brothers and the new Directors of Operations for The Pali
Blues. For those unfamiliar, the Pali Blues are a top semi-pro women's soccer team and the two-time
defending Champions of the USL W-League.
Few remember that three years ago, it was a trip to Azteca that was the coming out party for Stu
Holden on the USMNT "A" team...
TSG usually goes the route of trying to predict what the head coach, manager, or front office of
some club will do. We remove (attempt to remove) personal biases and frankly it's more important in
our minds to initiate conversation with our audience on the observations seen to date.
Seven years later.... (DCU Reserves vs. Metrostars Reserves, 10/09/2005)
In a move that TSG has pined for, for some time, Michael Bradley climbs through four different
leagues with a detour at Aston Villa and comes out smelling pretty at Serie A side, and Champion's
League hopeful, Roma.
The Union confirmed on Monday that they have signed Kai Herdling on loan from 1899 Hoffenheim
ahead of the close of the transfer window on Monday night.
Herdling is listed most places—from Wikipedia, to fussballdaten.de, soccerway.
The group of really really wounded and might result in death if not treated quickly.
Group C preview written by TSG Serie A expert (but does he know about Bunga Bunga
parties?) Eric Giardini
Click here for Group A preview
Click here for Group B preview
In Group C, which consists of Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Ireland, we have the last two World Cup
champions (Italy in 2006, Spain in 2010) and the defending European Champion (Spain 2008).
Slavek and Slavko (TSG is not sure yet which one is which) welcome you to the Euros
It's Euro time! You didn't think we here at TSG were going to let this competition slide thru
the cracks did you? Some of us here at TSG, need as many excuses as possible to post pictures of
handsome Franck Ribery.
Yes, today has Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich. Is there a doubt that Mourinho still has the chops
to get the Munich into the Champion's League Final? Not really.
Tomorrow is the main event. Chelsea vs. Barcelona and Dani Alves had this to say in the
Guardian about the 2009 semi-final second leg a 1-1 draw at the death that saw Barca through to
face United in Rome.
The Philadelphia Union took advantage of the final few hours of the transfer window being open,
as they bolstered their attacking depth by signing a player with European experience.
Philadelphia acquired German midfielder/foward Kai Herdling on loan from German Bundesliga club
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, the Union announced on Monday.
Landing a rover on Mars is CHILD'S PLAY compared to figuring out who's really helping a soccer team win. ... Yeah, we said that.
This piece originally ran in August of 2012
What happens when TSG reaches out to a bunch of nerds in high places who like numbers, triangle passes, Barcelona analogy misappropriations, Dax McCarty data, Roger Espinosa heat maps and deal in things called "machine learning" & "regression analyses?
Da brauche ich wohl morgen eine Sonnenbrille auf der Wiesn.
Thomas Müller, Mittelfeldspieler des FC Bayern München, nach dem 2:0 Erfolg gegen die TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, in der Müller einen Cut unterhalb des Auges erlitten hatte und genäht werden musste.
1. FC Nürnberg Hertha BSC Berlin TSG 1899 Hoffenheim SV Werder Bremen Eintracht Frankfurt Greuther
Fürth Bitter, bitter....diese sechs Bundesligavereine sind in der ersten Runde des DFB-Pokals
gegen unterklassige Teams ausgeschieden! Und alle hatten sie fest damit gerechnet, dass sie da in
einem ganz lockeren Spiel mal eben so die 2.
TSG's Serie A expert Eric Giardini takes in his beloved AS Roma in
Beantown
Way back in March when it was announced that Roma and Liverpool were playing a friendly in
Boston at iconic Fenway Park I knew there was no way I was going to miss it.
The biggest wildcard in these Euros? Has to be the Italians, no? Just a flat-out team
breakdown.
They come in having lost their two friendlies this year, to the States (1-0) and Russia (just
last week, 3-0) respectively. The Blues have two attackers that could be described as
"combustible," but more appropriately.
TSG's Serie A expert and Silicon Valley hopeful Eric Giardini on one troubled
duckling...
What is there to say about Alexandre Pato?
Pato's real passion: Berlusconi
The AC Milan striker, who currently spends more time on the training table and off gallivanting
around Milan with Barbara Berlusconi than on the field at the San Siro, is the most experienced
striker on this very young Brazil roster.
To be sure, this story is one that is not without precedent.
From the AP....
Brazilian club Vasco da Gama has been ordered by a juvenile justice judge to immediately suspend
activities at its youth training facilities because an investigation found teenage footballers were
living in "slave-like" conditions.
We're getting into the middle of a long week between matches and, as is typical, news in New
England Revolution land is sparse at best. News elsewhere has kept up, though, and thus the rounds
have more ammo today than yesterday. Let's not waste any time.
Revolution Links
Reserves: Union 4, Revs 2 | New England Revolution
Kenny Mansally is trying to stake his claim for a spot in the 18 against DC, and his two goals
against the Union reserves are sure to at least keep him in the conversation.
Jay Bell who once castigated Fox Soccer applauds NBC's effort
The dynamics of MLS broadcasting shifted this offseason when NBC won broadcasting rights for MLS
and US Soccer matches over Fox. Through the bidding process and the early glimpses of NBC's
treatment of MLS, it seems as if the league's new partner is embracing MLS more than Fox ever
did.
