Last weekend England took on Ukraine in a World Cup Qualifier in which Rooney sustained a calf injury that will now be keeping him out of Manchester United's game against Bolton tomorrow. Furthermore, Manchester United would naturally fall back on Berbatov to take Rooney's spot however, Berbatov won't be available due to a birth in his family. Fortunately van der Sar will be returning in goal after returning from a hand injury he suffered earlier in the season. Currently, it seems as if Man U is injury ridden yet hopefully this won't stop them from remaining right behind Chelsea at the top of the league.
Just as Man U seems to be suffering some key injuries, so is Liverpool. With both Torres and Gerrard being ruled out of their matchup against Sunderland this weekend, we may witness some interesting results this weekend. It seems that international play has been affecting the players in terms of their abilities to play with their club teams as is always the case with pre- World Cup matches. Hopefully, the players are saving up for what will hopefully be an even better World Cup than in 2006.
10/04/2009
Barcelona still undefeated + Chelsea Return to The Top
Today Chelsea moved into first and two points ahead of Manchester United as the held Liverpool to zero goals while Malouda and Anelka put in 1 a piece, both in the second half.
However, more interestingly are the standings in Spain. Altough Real Madrid had acquired Ronaldo and Kaká over the summer, they are still unable to move ahead of always powerful FC Barcelona who just beat Almeria 1-0 yesterday. Real Madrdid on the other hand dropped three points to Sevilla FC today with only Pepe scoring for the away side. Perhaps this can be attested to the fact that Ronaldo has picked up an ankle injury keeping him from playing and perhaps deteriorating the confidence in his team. Hopefully he gets better, however Barcelona are in formidable form so it will be tough to catch them as Messi and Ibrahimovic (seen below) continue to score goals for Barcelona.
However, more interestingly are the standings in Spain. Altough Real Madrid had acquired Ronaldo and Kaká over the summer, they are still unable to move ahead of always powerful FC Barcelona who just beat Almeria 1-0 yesterday. Real Madrdid on the other hand dropped three points to Sevilla FC today with only Pepe scoring for the away side. Perhaps this can be attested to the fact that Ronaldo has picked up an ankle injury keeping him from playing and perhaps deteriorating the confidence in his team. Hopefully he gets better, however Barcelona are in formidable form so it will be tough to catch them as Messi and Ibrahimovic (seen below) continue to score goals for Barcelona.
8/23/2009
Man U has big turnaround while Drogba continues to lead Chelsea to Victory
This Past Wednesday, Man U had an embarrassing 1-0 loss to new Premier League team, Burnley. Although Man U did have a chance to tie up the game right before the half, Carrick was unlucky a missed his PK. However, Yesterday they were able to really turn things around against Wigan. The had an emphatic win with the final score resulting, 5-0. Goals came from Rooney (2), Berbatov, Owen, and in the 90th minute from Nani. It seems that Man U is still able to keep in relatively good form without Cristiano Ronaldo. Although Ferdinand did get hurt in training earlier this week, Man U will certainly be the team to watch - it seems as if this is one of those seasons for them that could either be really good or really bad. Only time will tell.
At the top of the table and currently tied for first with Tottenham are the Blue's. At the moment, it seems as if Didier Drogba really is the magic person on the team. After he came off of an okay season in 08/09, he has certainly turned things around and gotten off to a fabulous start. Out of the team's seven goal total, Drogba is responsible for 3 of them. Things are certainly looking bright for Ancelotti's squad.
Furthermore, with Hull's new addition of American Jozy Altidore, Hull has finally gotten their first win of the season. Altidore was able to make his debut an excellent one by assisting Ghilas in the 61st minute - only 1 minute after he had gotten onto the field. Hopefully this will improve America's soccer image and this certainly is one of those steps that we, Americans, needed for our progress.
Hull's Jozy Altidore
At the top of the table and currently tied for first with Tottenham are the Blue's. At the moment, it seems as if Didier Drogba really is the magic person on the team. After he came off of an okay season in 08/09, he has certainly turned things around and gotten off to a fabulous start. Out of the team's seven goal total, Drogba is responsible for 3 of them. Things are certainly looking bright for Ancelotti's squad.
Furthermore, with Hull's new addition of American Jozy Altidore, Hull has finally gotten their first win of the season. Altidore was able to make his debut an excellent one by assisting Ghilas in the 61st minute - only 1 minute after he had gotten onto the field. Hopefully this will improve America's soccer image and this certainly is one of those steps that we, Americans, needed for our progress.
Hull's Jozy Altidore
8/18/2009
EPL Week 2 Schedule
I thought we could have a little blast in the past before we get started talking about this season.
In the first week of this season, just about every time did well enough to get favorable results. However, Arsenal were able to thoroughly embarrass Everton, at home in Goodison Park, 6-1.
At the moment, Chelsea is trailing Sunderland 1-0 30 minutes into the game and Wigan is trailing Wolverhampton 1-0 while also being 30 minutes into the game.
Here is the schedule for the remainder of the week.
- Note, Arsenal vs Bolton, West Ham vs. Aston Villa, and Fulham vs Blackburn have all been postponed for a later date (they were all scheduled to play today)
Tomorrow - 19th
2:45 pm ET Birmingham v Portsmouth
2:45 pm ET Hull City v Tottenham Hotspur
2:45 pm ET Burnley v Manchester United
3:00 pm ET Liverpool v Stoke City
Postp. Manchester City v Everton
Saturday - 22nd
10:00 am ET Arsenal v Portsmouth
10:00 am ET Birmingham v Stoke
10:00 am ET Hull City v Bolton
10:00 am ET Sunderland v Blackburn
10:00 am ET Manchester City v Wolverhampton
10:00 am ET Wigan Athletic v Manchester United
Sunday - 23rd
8:30 am ET West Ham United v Tottenham
10:00 am ET Burnley v Everton
11:00 am ET Fulham v Chelsea
*all game schedules are from ESPNsoccernet.com
In the first week of this season, just about every time did well enough to get favorable results. However, Arsenal were able to thoroughly embarrass Everton, at home in Goodison Park, 6-1.
At the moment, Chelsea is trailing Sunderland 1-0 30 minutes into the game and Wigan is trailing Wolverhampton 1-0 while also being 30 minutes into the game.
Here is the schedule for the remainder of the week.
- Note, Arsenal vs Bolton, West Ham vs. Aston Villa, and Fulham vs Blackburn have all been postponed for a later date (they were all scheduled to play today)
Tomorrow - 19th
2:45 pm ET Birmingham v Portsmouth
2:45 pm ET Hull City v Tottenham Hotspur
2:45 pm ET Burnley v Manchester United
3:00 pm ET Liverpool v Stoke City
Postp. Manchester City v Everton
Saturday - 22nd
10:00 am ET Arsenal v Portsmouth
10:00 am ET Birmingham v Stoke
10:00 am ET Hull City v Bolton
10:00 am ET Sunderland v Blackburn
10:00 am ET Manchester City v Wolverhampton
10:00 am ET Wigan Athletic v Manchester United
Sunday - 23rd
8:30 am ET West Ham United v Tottenham
10:00 am ET Burnley v Everton
11:00 am ET Fulham v Chelsea
*all game schedules are from ESPNsoccernet.com
8/17/2009
A slight deviation from European Soccer
As all of us Northern Americans know, just this past Wednesday, USA traveled south to take on Mexico in one of their many World Cup Qualifying games. I was fortunate enough to be in Mexico and watch the game on a big screen with tons of other Mexicans - quite an experience.
Early in the game, Davies did well to collect the ball about 25 to 30 yards from the goal and take a few touches before placing the ball in the right hand side of the goal. However, it didn't take Mexico much longer to score an amazing goal 20/ 25 yards outside the goal. The US defense didn't step to the ball and Mexico's Castro hit a rocket of a shot off the crossbar and down into the goal to level the game at 1-1.
For the next 60 minutes, things went back and forth between the US and Mexico with each team creating some chances however being unable to capitalize on them. Yet, Mexico was able to score yet again in the 81st minute. And of course it was because of the US defense's mistake. Sabah received a deflected pass right on top of the six and literally, had 5 seconds from when the ball was passes to when it went into the net. Clearly, the US failed to step up to the ball and defend Sabah. On a more entertaining note, as I sat in the bar with these Mexican fans, the second the goal erupted I myself thought I was in a stadium. These fans were jumping and falling out of their seats with excitement and making so much noise. It was excellent until they started to make fun of the US by doing the wave - 4 times.
Let's just hope the US doesn't continue this trend of losing anymore.
Early in the game, Davies did well to collect the ball about 25 to 30 yards from the goal and take a few touches before placing the ball in the right hand side of the goal. However, it didn't take Mexico much longer to score an amazing goal 20/ 25 yards outside the goal. The US defense didn't step to the ball and Mexico's Castro hit a rocket of a shot off the crossbar and down into the goal to level the game at 1-1.
For the next 60 minutes, things went back and forth between the US and Mexico with each team creating some chances however being unable to capitalize on them. Yet, Mexico was able to score yet again in the 81st minute. And of course it was because of the US defense's mistake. Sabah received a deflected pass right on top of the six and literally, had 5 seconds from when the ball was passes to when it went into the net. Clearly, the US failed to step up to the ball and defend Sabah. On a more entertaining note, as I sat in the bar with these Mexican fans, the second the goal erupted I myself thought I was in a stadium. These fans were jumping and falling out of their seats with excitement and making so much noise. It was excellent until they started to make fun of the US by doing the wave - 4 times.
Let's just hope the US doesn't continue this trend of losing anymore.
8/03/2009
AC Milan, let down
Last week, I was lucky enough to go watch AC Milan play Inter Milan at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. With all the hype, I expected to watch a very spectacular and interesting game. However, that was not the case. Both teams played most of their non-starters and only played the starters in the remaining 25 minutes or so of the game. Fortunately for Inter, Milito was able to score early on in the game by defeating new AC Milan player, Oguchi Onyewu 1-on-1. Later on in the match, he would score again to make it two games for him on the day. Inter certainly controlled most of the game with AC Milan producing minimal opportunities.
However, although they game may not have been the most fascinating and exciting to watch, it was good to see a few typical American things in what was supposed to be an Italian atmosphere. First, the whole crowd got the wave started. For all of us who watch European games, we know that the wave is never done during a soccer game. And second, the ref had to mess up giving a card to no one other than Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho was supposed to be given a yellow but by mistake the ref gave him a red, took it back, and then gave a yellow. Classic.
However, although they game may not have been the most fascinating and exciting to watch, it was good to see a few typical American things in what was supposed to be an Italian atmosphere. First, the whole crowd got the wave started. For all of us who watch European games, we know that the wave is never done during a soccer game. And second, the ref had to mess up giving a card to no one other than Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho was supposed to be given a yellow but by mistake the ref gave him a red, took it back, and then gave a yellow. Classic.
7/26/2009
Inter Milan and AC Milan Training
Today, I was fortunate enough to be able to head over to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA to watch the two Italian powerhouses train before their game on Sunday, July, 26th. I will also be at the game and will have a write up of it tomorrow. For now though, I thought I would fall back on the good old cliche, a picture speaks a thousand words. Below you can see some pictures of the training session that I took. Enjoy!
Inter Milan
AC Milan
Inter Milan
AC Milan
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