A Casual Whisper News
The top story in the sports section of the New York Times today is about RSL midfielder Andy Williams wife's struggle against Leukemia. Written by former LA Daily News soccer reporter Billy Witz. So great to see.
~and~
Landon Donovan is in Munich Germany, training with Bayern, and is looking to make the move permanent. If you go to the Bayern website, there is picture of Landy & Klinsi, and an article in German, but the English translation version of the sites does not have the story. Here is a pic of LD from today's training session. Stay tuned.
MLS News
CHICAGO FIRE
Luis Arroyave of the Tribune on the late season Chris Rolfe goal explosion.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nick Firchau of the Southtown Star talks to defender CJ Brown who has barely played this season due to injury, but is doing everything he can to help the team win. He hates not playing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CD CHIVAS USA
Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise reviews the season that was for CUSA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
COLORADO RAPIDS
After talking all season long about heading off to Europe in January, it turns out that Pablo Mastroeni is going nowhere. He just signed a new contract with the team. I am surprised.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Raps will make it official today and put Gary Smith behind the wheel of company truck.
-As recently as yesterday the CR front office were still keeping up their embargo on any knowledge of info on their coaches. (thanks to James for the heads up)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
George Tanner of FC Rocky posts the case for and against making Gary Smith the head man.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Listen to new assistant coach Steve Guppy talk about the Colorado job on a Rochester NY radio show Kick This.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives weighs in on the hiring of Smith.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
COLUMBUS CREW
Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch talks to Sigi Schmid about being named Coach of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mitchell also looks ahead to Thursday nights big match up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Glenn Davis of the Chronicle looks for gold in the garbage heap that became of the Dynamo season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle reminds us that the season is not over. There is still one CONCACAF Champions League group stage game to be played.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The official team blog, Hillcrest Road, links us to a Q & A that midfielder Kevin Souter did with his hometown paper, the Aberdeen Evening Express. (article posted before last weekends game)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The folks at the Kansas City Soccer Review give us their post season Wizardly thoughts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
RED BULL NEW YORK
Steve Davis at MLSnet digs in deep to see just how the Red Bulls pulled off that huge win on Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger tells us that the only other time NYRB won a playoff game current coach Juan Carlos Osorio was an assistant with the team. Coincidence?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives takes a more indepth look at the Bulls big big upset win in Houston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer with an article on goalkeeper Danny Cepero who played a big role in the upset of Houston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
FIFA.com calls Jeff Agoos "an American idol". Cue wildly exaggerated cartoon noises and facials gyrations!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Stefan Bondy of the Herald News takes a view of NYRB traveling out to Salt Lake. (Nice headline typo!)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
REAL SALT LAKE
James Edward of the Deseret News tells us about the contributions of 3 midseason midfield acquisitions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sports Network with a story on the breakout of forward Yura Movsisyan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
TORONTO FC
Dean McNulty of the Sun reports that TFC management has been given the blessing of team ownership to go find a Designated Player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
GENERAL
Pat Walsh at Goal.com thinks having Salt Lake or New York in the final can be a good thing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shaka Hislop writes for the Guardian about the 4 teams still standing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Bradley of MLSnet gives us his First XI to tell us who made the difference in the quarterfinals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Post Season Awards
San Jose winger Darren Huckerby has been named Newcomer of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sigi Schmid of Columbus has been named Coach of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Soccer Training Info blog hands out their own "infamous" awards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!
Goal.com reports that a young Argentine goal keeper from Arsenal de Sarandi is looking to sign with an MLS team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Seattle Expansion News
The Post Intelligencer sees the Sounders easing toward season 1. I have said it before, and I will write it again - If I were in charge of the Sounders I would go try to hire Steve Nicol away from New England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
USL First Division News
Minnesota Thunder
Brian Quarstad of Inside Minnesota Soccer reports today that the Thunder has lost one of their two USL First Division Best 11 players. Stephen Deroux bought out the second year of his contract to sign with the Montreal Impact. A special note to Mr Deroux: prepare to be heckled beyond your wildest dreams next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Team USA
The roster has been announced for a 4 day training camp (beginning tomorrow Nov 12) before the World Cup qualifier next week in Denver. You can expect more players to be added & others dropped before the game on the 19th v Guatemala.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Initial Roster:
G:
Brian Edwards - Toronto
Troy Perkins - Valerenga
Matt Pickens - no club
D:
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA
Sean Franklin - Los Angeles
Cory Gibbs - Colorado
Clarence Goodson - Start
Drew Moor - Dallas
Michael Parkhurst - New England
M:
Colin Clark - Colorado
Ricardo Clark - Houston
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Nick LaBrocca - Colorado
Pablo Mastroeni - Colorado
F:
Davy Arnaud - Kansas City
Chad Barrett - Toronto
Conor Casey - Colorado
Brian Ching - Houston
Kenny Cooper -Dallas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I really really really really hope to see the name of Charlie Davies added to this list!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 19
USA v Guatemala - live at 7pm central on ESPN Classic.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Honda Player of the Year, awarded to the USA's best player will be will be announced tomorrow, Tuesday, in Los Angeles. The 3 nominees are Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey & Tim Howard. I would vote for Howard if asked.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer In America
Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports writes that electing Obama will help the USA get the World Cup in 2018. OK then.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Americans In Europe
Charlie Davies finished his 3 season at Hammarby in Sweden with 14 goals. Not bad at all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365reports that Dan Califf was pulled from Midjtylland's game yesterday due to concerns over a lingering hamstring muscle strain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
UPCOMING MATCHES
English League Cup
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - at Swansea on Tuesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Scotland Premier League
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - at Motherwell on Wednesday.
-Maurice Edu - Rangers - at Motherwell on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Spain Copa Del Rey
-Jozy Altidore - host Club Polideportivo Ejido on Wednesday in the 2nd leg, but trail 5-0 from the 1st leg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
France Coupe de la Ligue
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - at Le Havre on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Austria Bundesliga
-Preston Zimmerman - Kapfenberg - host Mattersburg on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who saw the field are listed)
Danish SAS Ligaen
-Dan Califf - Midjtylland - started but was subbed off at half time, but the team went on to win 2-0 at home over Vejle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF News
Soccer 365 with an article on Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings who may play a role for the Jamaican national team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News
From US Soccer: The draw to determine the placement of teams in the CONCACAF Final Round hexagonal for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying will take place on Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Canada & CSA News
Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail gives us one persons 5 point plan to set the CSA on the right path.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Larry Morgan of the G & M also gives us word on the condition of Canadian international player Iain Hume who suffered a fractured skull on Saturday playing for his club Barnsley in England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mexico & FMF News
Reuters has an article about Mexico's game in Honduras on Nov 19 from which they need at least 1 point to advance in World Cup qualifying.
-And the FMF gives Eriksson the dreaded vote of confidence.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nick Green of the Daily Breeze writes about what is keeping El Tri from growing in quality internationally.
-Green on his blog 100 Percent Soccer has more quotes from Alexi Lalas who is now apparently an expert on Mexico.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Friendly Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 12
Mexico v Ecuador - in Phoenix AZ
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Maradona Mania
Simon Kuper of the Financial Times tells us why Argentina handed the big guns to a mad man.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
John Molinaro of the CBC defends Diego's cheating ways.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
South American News
Tim Vickery at Sports Illustrated thinks the biggest problem with the Brazilian national team lies with some of the players they keep calling in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Copa Sudamericana
Semifinals
1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 12
Guadalajara v International
-Thu Nov 13
Argentinos Juniors v Estudiantes
2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Wed Nov 19
International v Guadalajara
-Thu Nov 20
Estudiantes v Argentinos Juniors
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
England News
The latest on the potential sale of Newcastle United to Americans:
-The Newcastle Evening Chronicle says Clark Hunt is NOT interested in buying Newcastle despite earlier claims in newspapers that he was.
-The Newcastle Journal seems more interested in the "odds" on Alan Shearer becoming the teams next manager than who will actually buy the team. They are pimping for Uncle Phil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Of the 18 players on Arsenal's game day roster for a League Cup match tonight at home v Wigan, 13 are teenagers. And the other 5 are aged 20-23. Wow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The BBC reports that after flying to the USA to see a specialist Man United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has had surgery on his right knee, and another on his left is planned, to correct a long term problem with tendonitis. He will miss the entire 08/09 season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Oliver Kay of the Times thinks it just might be Liverpool’s turn to win the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Telegraph with a list of coach & players outbursts showing that the FA's much hyped "respect the referees" campaign has not been heeded by those it was intended for.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Former England and Manchester United great Andy Cole has retired. He played for Nottingham Forest earlier this season. He scored 187 goals in the English Premiership.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Man City midfielder Elano says that he respects coach Mark Hughes' decision not to play him, but then turns around and complains to the press. That is not showing respect. I think many people have sought to changed the meaning of the word.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Observer reports that Chelsea is considering building a new stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
European News
FRANCE
Alain Perrin has been hired as the new head coach of St Etienne. And if that isn't bad enough news, they also hired Damien Comolli to run the organization. He is the guy who just finished running Tottenham into the ground.
-Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian has the story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Coupe de la Ligue Round of 16 matches happen this week. Here are the matches. (This is the lesser of the 2 cups in France)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
GERMANY
Big thumbs up to the fans of Werder Bremen. Some idiots showed up at the teams game last weekend v Bochum and attempted to put up a pro-fascist banner. But people in the stadium took it down and turned the morons over to security. Excellent.
-The Bundesliga website says that the perps are banned for life from both the Bochum and Bremen stadiums.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian says that Bayern and Hamburg as back to take the early season fun out of the Bundesliga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ITALY
Coppa Italia Round of 16 matches start this week. Here are those matches. (The last match of this round will not be played until Jan 14 though.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
SPAIN
Copa Del Rey 4th Round 2nd leg matches take places this week. Here are those matches, with 1st leg scores included.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
World News
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes that the worlds footballing elite have earmarked India as a place they need to heavily market the game too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Asian News
The Asian Champions League final
Matches & Scores (with first leg score included):
-Wed Nov 12
Adelaide v Gamba (0-3)
~and~
Landon Donovan is in Munich Germany, training with Bayern, and is looking to make the move permanent. If you go to the Bayern website, there is picture of Landy & Klinsi, and an article in German, but the English translation version of the sites does not have the story. Here is a pic of LD from today's training session. Stay tuned.
MLS News
CHICAGO FIRE
Luis Arroyave of the Tribune on the late season Chris Rolfe goal explosion.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nick Firchau of the Southtown Star talks to defender CJ Brown who has barely played this season due to injury, but is doing everything he can to help the team win. He hates not playing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CD CHIVAS USA
Luis Bueno of the Press Enterprise reviews the season that was for CUSA.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
COLORADO RAPIDS
After talking all season long about heading off to Europe in January, it turns out that Pablo Mastroeni is going nowhere. He just signed a new contract with the team. I am surprised.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Raps will make it official today and put Gary Smith behind the wheel of company truck.
-As recently as yesterday the CR front office were still keeping up their embargo on any knowledge of info on their coaches. (thanks to James for the heads up)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
George Tanner of FC Rocky posts the case for and against making Gary Smith the head man.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Listen to new assistant coach Steve Guppy talk about the Colorado job on a Rochester NY radio show Kick This.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives weighs in on the hiring of Smith.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
COLUMBUS CREW
Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch talks to Sigi Schmid about being named Coach of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mitchell also looks ahead to Thursday nights big match up.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
HOUSTON DYNAMO
Glenn Davis of the Chronicle looks for gold in the garbage heap that became of the Dynamo season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And Bernardo Fallas of the Chronicle reminds us that the season is not over. There is still one CONCACAF Champions League group stage game to be played.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The official team blog, Hillcrest Road, links us to a Q & A that midfielder Kevin Souter did with his hometown paper, the Aberdeen Evening Express. (article posted before last weekends game)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The folks at the Kansas City Soccer Review give us their post season Wizardly thoughts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
RED BULL NEW YORK
Steve Davis at MLSnet digs in deep to see just how the Red Bulls pulled off that huge win on Sunday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Frank Giase of the Newark Star Ledger tells us that the only other time NYRB won a playoff game current coach Juan Carlos Osorio was an assistant with the team. Coincidence?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ives Galarcep of Soccer by Ives takes a more indepth look at the Bulls big big upset win in Houston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer with an article on goalkeeper Danny Cepero who played a big role in the upset of Houston.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
FIFA.com calls Jeff Agoos "an American idol". Cue wildly exaggerated cartoon noises and facials gyrations!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Stefan Bondy of the Herald News takes a view of NYRB traveling out to Salt Lake. (Nice headline typo!)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
REAL SALT LAKE
James Edward of the Deseret News tells us about the contributions of 3 midseason midfield acquisitions.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Sports Network with a story on the breakout of forward Yura Movsisyan.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
TORONTO FC
Dean McNulty of the Sun reports that TFC management has been given the blessing of team ownership to go find a Designated Player.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
GENERAL
Pat Walsh at Goal.com thinks having Salt Lake or New York in the final can be a good thing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shaka Hislop writes for the Guardian about the 4 teams still standing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jeff Bradley of MLSnet gives us his First XI to tell us who made the difference in the quarterfinals.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Post Season Awards
San Jose winger Darren Huckerby has been named Newcomer of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sigi Schmid of Columbus has been named Coach of the Year.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Soccer Training Info blog hands out their own "infamous" awards.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Rumor City - Don't Tease Me Bro!
Goal.com reports that a young Argentine goal keeper from Arsenal de Sarandi is looking to sign with an MLS team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MLS Seattle Expansion News
The Post Intelligencer sees the Sounders easing toward season 1. I have said it before, and I will write it again - If I were in charge of the Sounders I would go try to hire Steve Nicol away from New England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
USL First Division News
Minnesota Thunder
Brian Quarstad of Inside Minnesota Soccer reports today that the Thunder has lost one of their two USL First Division Best 11 players. Stephen Deroux bought out the second year of his contract to sign with the Montreal Impact. A special note to Mr Deroux: prepare to be heckled beyond your wildest dreams next season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Team USA
The roster has been announced for a 4 day training camp (beginning tomorrow Nov 12) before the World Cup qualifier next week in Denver. You can expect more players to be added & others dropped before the game on the 19th v Guatemala.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Initial Roster:
G:
Brian Edwards - Toronto
Troy Perkins - Valerenga
Matt Pickens - no club
D:
Jonathan Bornstein - Chivas USA
Sean Franklin - Los Angeles
Cory Gibbs - Colorado
Clarence Goodson - Start
Drew Moor - Dallas
Michael Parkhurst - New England
M:
Colin Clark - Colorado
Ricardo Clark - Houston
Sacha Kljestan - Chivas USA
Nick LaBrocca - Colorado
Pablo Mastroeni - Colorado
F:
Davy Arnaud - Kansas City
Chad Barrett - Toronto
Conor Casey - Colorado
Brian Ching - Houston
Kenny Cooper -Dallas
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I really really really really hope to see the name of Charlie Davies added to this list!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 19
USA v Guatemala - live at 7pm central on ESPN Classic.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Honda Player of the Year, awarded to the USA's best player will be will be announced tomorrow, Tuesday, in Los Angeles. The 3 nominees are Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey & Tim Howard. I would vote for Howard if asked.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Soccer In America
Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports writes that electing Obama will help the USA get the World Cup in 2018. OK then.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Americans In Europe
Charlie Davies finished his 3 season at Hammarby in Sweden with 14 goals. Not bad at all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Greg Seltzer of Soccer 365reports that Dan Califf was pulled from Midjtylland's game yesterday due to concerns over a lingering hamstring muscle strain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
UPCOMING MATCHES
English League Cup
-Jay DeMerit - Watford - at Swansea on Tuesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Scotland Premier League
-DaMarcus Beasley - Rangers - at Motherwell on Wednesday.
-Maurice Edu - Rangers - at Motherwell on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Spain Copa Del Rey
-Jozy Altidore - host Club Polideportivo Ejido on Wednesday in the 2nd leg, but trail 5-0 from the 1st leg.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
France Coupe de la Ligue
-Carlos Bocanegra - Rennes - at Le Havre on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Austria Bundesliga
-Preston Zimmerman - Kapfenberg - host Mattersburg on Wednesday.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
MOST RECENT MATCHES
(only players who saw the field are listed)
Danish SAS Ligaen
-Dan Califf - Midjtylland - started but was subbed off at half time, but the team went on to win 2-0 at home over Vejle.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF News
Soccer 365 with an article on Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings who may play a role for the Jamaican national team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying News
From US Soccer: The draw to determine the placement of teams in the CONCACAF Final Round hexagonal for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying will take place on Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Canada & CSA News
Ben Knight of the Toronto Globe & Mail gives us one persons 5 point plan to set the CSA on the right path.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Larry Morgan of the G & M also gives us word on the condition of Canadian international player Iain Hume who suffered a fractured skull on Saturday playing for his club Barnsley in England.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mexico & FMF News
Reuters has an article about Mexico's game in Honduras on Nov 19 from which they need at least 1 point to advance in World Cup qualifying.
-And the FMF gives Eriksson the dreaded vote of confidence.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nick Green of the Daily Breeze writes about what is keeping El Tri from growing in quality internationally.
-Green on his blog 100 Percent Soccer has more quotes from Alexi Lalas who is now apparently an expert on Mexico.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Friendly Match & Score:
-Wed Nov 12
Mexico v Ecuador - in Phoenix AZ
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Maradona Mania
Simon Kuper of the Financial Times tells us why Argentina handed the big guns to a mad man.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
John Molinaro of the CBC defends Diego's cheating ways.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
South American News
Tim Vickery at Sports Illustrated thinks the biggest problem with the Brazilian national team lies with some of the players they keep calling in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Copa Sudamericana
Semifinals
1st Leg Matches & Scores:
-Wed Nov 12
Guadalajara v International
-Thu Nov 13
Argentinos Juniors v Estudiantes
2nd Leg Matches & Scores (with 1st Leg scores included):
-Wed Nov 19
International v Guadalajara
-Thu Nov 20
Estudiantes v Argentinos Juniors
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
England News
The latest on the potential sale of Newcastle United to Americans:
-The Newcastle Evening Chronicle says Clark Hunt is NOT interested in buying Newcastle despite earlier claims in newspapers that he was.
-The Newcastle Journal seems more interested in the "odds" on Alan Shearer becoming the teams next manager than who will actually buy the team. They are pimping for Uncle Phil.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Of the 18 players on Arsenal's game day roster for a League Cup match tonight at home v Wigan, 13 are teenagers. And the other 5 are aged 20-23. Wow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The BBC reports that after flying to the USA to see a specialist Man United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has had surgery on his right knee, and another on his left is planned, to correct a long term problem with tendonitis. He will miss the entire 08/09 season.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Oliver Kay of the Times thinks it just might be Liverpool’s turn to win the league.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Telegraph with a list of coach & players outbursts showing that the FA's much hyped "respect the referees" campaign has not been heeded by those it was intended for.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Former England and Manchester United great Andy Cole has retired. He played for Nottingham Forest earlier this season. He scored 187 goals in the English Premiership.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Man City midfielder Elano says that he respects coach Mark Hughes' decision not to play him, but then turns around and complains to the press. That is not showing respect. I think many people have sought to changed the meaning of the word.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Observer reports that Chelsea is considering building a new stadium.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
European News
FRANCE
Alain Perrin has been hired as the new head coach of St Etienne. And if that isn't bad enough news, they also hired Damien Comolli to run the organization. He is the guy who just finished running Tottenham into the ground.
-Ben Lyttleton of the Guardian has the story.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Coupe de la Ligue Round of 16 matches happen this week. Here are the matches. (This is the lesser of the 2 cups in France)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
GERMANY
Big thumbs up to the fans of Werder Bremen. Some idiots showed up at the teams game last weekend v Bochum and attempted to put up a pro-fascist banner. But people in the stadium took it down and turned the morons over to security. Excellent.
-The Bundesliga website says that the perps are banned for life from both the Bochum and Bremen stadiums.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Raphael Honigstein of the Guardian says that Bayern and Hamburg as back to take the early season fun out of the Bundesliga.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ITALY
Coppa Italia Round of 16 matches start this week. Here are those matches. (The last match of this round will not be played until Jan 14 though.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
SPAIN
Copa Del Rey 4th Round 2nd leg matches take places this week. Here are those matches, with 1st leg scores included.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
World News
Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune writes that the worlds footballing elite have earmarked India as a place they need to heavily market the game too.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Asian News
The Asian Champions League final
Matches & Scores (with first leg score included):
-Wed Nov 12
Adelaide v Gamba (0-3)
posted by brucio at 16:15
4 Comments:
It makes perfect sense that Lalas would be an expert on Mexico. Look at the comparisons with his most recent club:
Used to be a dominant team in their region/league, but have been bypassed by emerging powers? Check.
Think and act like the team is much bigger than they actually are, and as such, are deserving of special treatment? Check.
Hired a big name foreign coach with very little understanding of the region/league? Check.
Favor pretty-boy players who whine and cry when they don't get their way? Check.
I could go on and on...
I would like to make the motion that we give Lalas the Beckman treatment and refuse to call him by his proper name. He makes my skin crawl.
Would anyone second that motion?
Not me. For all of Lalas' shortcomings as a general manager in New York and Los Angeles, he remains one of the most visible, charismatic and gutsy people in this league. During all of his issues with the Galaxy, good or bad, he was always front and center to put the responsibility on him.
Lalas did and still does do everything he can to promote the league. Two summers ago the Galaxy announced it was going to play a game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, and I showed up as an intern for a weekly newspaper. Lalas spent as much time talking to me as he did the metro daily newspapers in town. I'll never forget that. I remember he showed up on Fox Football Fone-In last year and faced all of the criticism head-on. This last week, showing up on ESPN and facing that he was embarrassingly fired from the Galaxy, that takes guts to me.
You can say what you want about Lalas being a bad manager or about being too much of a slick willie, but he is a character who has a lot of self confidence, and MLS has very few of them right now. Keeping controversial but hard-nosed guys like Wynalda and Lalas around the league are so important. Even though they are pundits not, they keep people talking Monday through Friday, and that is how MLS continues to advance into the mainstream.
"I have said it before, and I will write it again - If I were in charge of the Sounders I would go try to hire Steve Nicol away from New England." Why? So the new boys can be just as boring and one-dimensional as the Revs are? Yep, that's *just* what MLS needs more of!
"A special note to Mr Deroux: prepare to be heckled beyond your wildest dreams next season." Sure, heckle the guy for making a good career move! If you have to freeze your nads off all winter long, it only makes sense to at least get paid a decent wage and not have to play for a crap team in the bargain. You guys can heckle all you want, but at the end of the day, the joke is on you!
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