Wasn't it always going to end this way? Ironically.
Enough!
With Fabio Capello's rumored brush-up with John Terry again John Terry! at World Cup 2010 in
mind here at TSG, Capello resigned his England post today, taking umbrage with the English FA for
usurping his power and "de-captaining" John Terry last week.
Editor's Note: This piece filed last week by Eric Giardini. The editors at TSG
idiotically missed it floating in inbox ether...
Pirlo, the LL Cool J of Serie A...Reader's choice: "Don't Call It Comeback" or "Doing it and
doing it and doing it...well."
If there is any weekend to pick-up your Serie A match watching, this is the one.
photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
In a week that saw several young and inexperienced players make their cases for more playing
time on the U.S. men's national team, it was the veterans of the United States who shined
brightly.
Landon Donovan was one of those players, as he inspired Everton to victory by setting up both
of its goals in a 2-1 win over Fulham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday.
Fulham departs the Cottage and heads south to Goodison to face David Moyes bunch of not so merry
men.
The so-called #LDvsCD battle. Donovan vs. Dempsey.
TSG is not buying the hype, but nice to watch one game in England instead of two to see the US's
top field players....and leading striker Tim Howard.
Photo by ISIphotos.com
For U.S. Under-23 winger Joe Gyau, the future is now.
Gyau confirmed on his own Twitter feed that he will be in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's matchday 18
against Hannover 96 this weekend for the first time. Hoffenheim is dealing with a number of
injuries, and Gyau, who has been playing well for the club's U-23 team, is going to get his first
taste of first-team life in the Bundesliga in what could prove to be a seminal year in the
19-year-old winger's career.
This is Part II of TSG's discussion with Amsterdam-based Greg Seltzer of MLSSoccer.com and No
Short Corners. You can find Part I, here.
Gatt and a legend...
Matthew: So who are the key Americans abroad that US fans should truly be
excited by? So many times one goal is enough to chop a forest worth's of timber to power the hype
machine.
Amsterdam-based Greg Seltzer is certainly a unique cat.
Seltzer
Greg decided long ago to make his name and career in soccer reporting and found himself
relocated over to the Netherlands reporting for Soccer America.
With the re-vamp, or re-start if you prefer, of MLSSoccer.com and the need for a qualitative
reporter on player movement became clear, Seltzer fit the bill.
Live Babel Twitter chat
Ryan Babel may have swapped Liverpool for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in January but the Dutch star has
never made any secret of the affection he still holds for the Reds.
View the full story here: Liverpool FC
A news article on 2011-12-19 18:25:35 from: Liverpool FC
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
6pm: Live Babel Twitter chat
Ryan Babel may have swapped Liverpool for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in January but the Dutch star has
never made any secret of the affection he still holds for the Reds.
View the full story here: Liverpool FC
A news article on 2011-12-19 13:10:56 from: Liverpool FC
This news item has been reproduced from today's media.
By FRANCO PANIZO
There were several noteworthy performances from the Americans Abroad contingent this weekend,
but none was better than the match put in by Oguchi Onyewu.
Onyewu was the only American to find the back of the net this past weekend, as he hit the winner
in Sporting CP's 1-0 victory over CD Nacional de Madeira.
If only Bob Bradley knew...
Onward...
With Estudiantes Tecos about to wrap up there season and facing a budget-balancing puzzle, the
US's prodigal poacher south of the border is headed north out of town.
TSG has confirmed that the 2010 World Cup vet will join Club Santos Laguna (where former US
coach Bob Bradley was said to be in talks about their head role before taking the Egypt job) after
the conclusion of Mexican Apertura playoff final series Sunday.
The U-17ers moved as one on Sunday...
A surfing nod in that title.
As you become older, wiser and more experienced in surfing, you learn that Mother Ocean
always wins. So when sets of 12-foot waves are hurdling towards you, you wait until the
set of waves subside or you sort of stick-and-move your way out to the line-up, prodding for the
little channel that way exist.
Poor corporate oversight here. Meant to get this up on Saturday.
TSG's celebrated peanut gallery: Waldorf, Statler, and...I don't know Beauregard got together
via email on Friday to toss out one-liners and multi-liners from the balcony on the Euro 2012 draw.
It was TSG's Serie A expert and Italian national team expert Eric Giardini, joined by Ronan Quinn
writing from Newcastle on Ireland.
By our watch, longest TSG has gone without a fresh piece of content was three days.
We just beat that!
Dubious!
Apologies, TSG is dealing with some severe family (pet) responsibilities; we currently don't
have a back-up editor and we've had a few pieces that the stork was supposed to deliver this week
but couldn't.
Philadelphia Union midfielders Amobi Okugo and Zach Pfeffer are currently training with
Bundesliga clubs, according to multiple reports.
Okugo, a first round SuperDraft pick by the Union in 2010, was today revealed to have flown to
Germany today to train with Bundesliga relegation zone side SC Freiburg.
USWNT almost atoned for it's group stage blemish on Saturday..
TSG's Maura Gladys brings us home on the USWNT in 2011. Thanks for hard work,
Maura.
If she didn't prove it with her two goals and one in the 2011 World Cup, Alex Morgan proved last
night that she deserves a spot in USWNT the starting lineup.
Arsene Wenger chats Brek Shea
-|-|-|-|-|-
More: TSG's Brek Shea Interview
TSG's Tuesday plays contrarian or does he on the maligned US centerback
Orozco-Fiscal, popping up at every Klinsmann camp. (Credit: Matt Mathai)
At TSG, we've tried to offer some explanation for Michael Orozco-Fiscal.
All the pundits, professional and armchair men alike seem to be in agreement.
According to Greg Seltzer at MLS Soccer on his blog, the United States will play Italy in Genoa
on February 29th.
Two conjoining notes:
That international side name will always, always bring up this clip on TSG below....
....and perhaps it should be Milan castoff and Zlatan opponent Oguchi Onyewu that enforces
it.
About the domestic league...
...sort of.
Let me explain.
First, the schedule of events over the next four or five days. Today, "voting" on MLS Awards
"Part I," Saturday, more, Sunday more, Monday "voting" on MLS Awards Part Final (Best XI). Note, on
that Best XI, TSG won't chicken out and go with three defenders LAME!
The Krew...
Two games, 1 win, 1 loss from September Camp.
TSG goes diving again into the USMNT...
And now the US will embark for Europe in early-mid November for friendlies against France and
Slovenia. Though Slovenia was presumably only chosen because other European nations had
commitments, the US finds itself challenged by two vastly different systems and talent levels.
We dropped some science over at friends of the TSG, The Free Beer Movement today.
A little ditty entitled: "Why American Soccer: A Dissident, A Dissident Is Here."
Check it out if you would.
Pearl Jam, Seattle, 1991...just getting going...
The English Ramblers were an early challenger and loser to the entity known as "Fifa."
Editor's note: This is the 2nd piece for The Shin Guardian from Joshua Wells. Josh is
broadly looking at the administrative side of soccer from legality through business practice here
at TSG
Over the course of history, repressive governments tend to have common characteristics that
define their operations and their impact on the world.
In The Fan In You (TFIY) series, TSG explores how a fan became fanatical about their
favorite team. This piece about the sport itself.
Arguably Benfica's greatest....Eusebio...
By: RJ DeMello
The beautiful game enveloped me completely in the summer of 2006.
All the news that's fit to drink.
And because you'd rather have a beer than be reading all the time... we've taken the day's top news
and given it the Reader's Digest-treatment so you can get to that post-work pint quicker.* Could Brek Shea take that awesome rooster hair to England?
Will the same "core" get a runout on Tuesday?
First, some perspective.
The United States played a decidedly weak Honduran side on Saturday. Yes, Clint Dempsey was
great, even Brek Shea and Jozy Altidore.
A big step-up is still needed from those three and the US as a whole when they face off Tuesday
with CONMEBOL's Ecuador despite a terrible run of form by La Tri over the past few years.
Tim Howard was called upon again. Here, Jai Alai in Miami...
A little quick redress on Saturday's 1-0 USA win over visiting Honduras in Florida. Jurgen
Klinsmann's first win as manager as well.
The Rooster deserves a Snickers commercial
The Rooster sticking around.
"Look T-bone, I don't care if this is a knockout game or a friendly, you don't let this Hondo
"B" team score. Are you receiving me?!)
(I'm sorry Google, I don't care that you won't pick up this page from TSG because the headling
doesn't have the right keywords. I appreciate the traffic you send TSG, but.
With an icy clean move by midfielder extraordinaire Alonso Osvaldo to finish off the Fire, the
Seattle Supersonics Sounders claimed their third straight Open Cup victory, 2-0 in Chicago Tuesday
night.
Each year TSG fails to do a preview and then the game always impresses. Not next year.
Congratulations Seattle.
It won't be Landon in a walk this year...
Over the past few weeks and months, TSG has served you a steady diet of MLS MVP data
snacks....but we've left the bright orange cellophane on for you to unwrap yourself.
Our candidate here at TSG is Brad Davis who has created 40 more "chances" this season (data
excluding this past weekend) then the next closest competitor, according to Opta.
MLS underway this evening with Houston vs. Columbus at Crew Stadium.
What a perfect time to bring up the following:
Shouldn't Davis be wearing the Stars & Stripes at some point in 2011?
• Brad Davis is having an MVP campaign. CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME?!
If you caught up with TSG on Twitter recently, you've heard our rants on Davis.
Please say no to Middle East or bust.
Update: With news that Bob Bradley is set to be confirmed for the Egypt
national team manager role, we re-issue this editorial below.
-
Late Sunday, the news came across the wire Twitter, that is that Bob Bradley was one of three
finalists for the Egypt national team job.
It has been confirmed that former MLS Dallas standout and current team broadcaster Bobby Rhine
has passed from an apparent heart attack.
A friend of TSG and huge figure in US Soccer.
Our condolences.
Dass das Leben kein Heimspiel ist, ist uns allen klar. Dass das aber zumindest in Hoffenheim, einem
Stadtteil von Sinsheim einmal anders war, glauben wir heute auch nicht mehr. Aber es war so, in den
früheren Zeiten der TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, damals als man das 1899 im Klubnamen noch weggelassen
hatte und als man noch [.
The transfer madness continues ahead of Wednesday's European deadline, and it's already
involving potential future U.S. national team call-ups.
German-American defender Daniel Williams is the latest to switch teams after he moved from SC
Freiburg to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on a three-year deal, according to reports from Germany.
The Beautiful Game series explores how soccer makes a difference around the
globe.
Been a very emotional week here at TSG and we are tardy in following up on our The Beautiful
Game series.
Good news this month....the super touching Freddy Fund is about to break ground on their field
that story.
"So Klinsman thinks you can help us. Here's what we do..." (but you knew this was going to be
the player picture)
The United States takes to the pitch in Philadelphia, PA against CONCACAF rival and
arch-nemisis Mexico.
Kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field is set for 9 p.m. ET. Pre-game at 5:30.
Please say no to Middle East or bust.
Late Sunday, the news came across the wire Twitter, that is that Bob Bradley was one of three
finalists for the Egypt national team job.
Monday, Bradley's candidacy assumed pole position as MLS Soccer's Greg Seltzer clarified and
corroborated the interest.
*Editor's note: With this piece, TSG welcomes Neil Blackmon into
the fold. Neil will be covering the EPL and the USMNT for TSG going forward.
Welcome Neil.*
"Carlton's" got his groove back early season....two deposits for Nani on Community Shield
Day.
A human interest story?
More a running joke. It's true Herculez Gomez watches the Bachelorette.
So does Miss TSG and, uh, yours truly. Nick Rimando as well.
Omar Gonzalez? He wants a mask.
Women, watch your hearts...
This phenomenally great work by @DanLeatherman, who did it just a few hours.
