Some News For Mon Jan 3, 2011

STARTERS

2011? Really? Already? It's moving too quickly.

dN

The Guardian has named du Nord as one of the 100 football blogs to follow in 2011! What a great surprise.
-Plenty of our friends in football made the list too!

dN

Brad Guzan has gone on loan for the month of January to Hull City from Aston Villa.
-And he has 1 loss & 1 win in 2 games so far. (See details in Americans in Europe section below.)
-In my opinion this is what should have been happening regularly for the past 3 1/2 years if he wants to progress as a goalkeeper.

dN

Looks like someone named Aron Winter will become the next Toronto FC manager. (Yeah I know we all thought it was Paul Mariner. Word has it that he will be a part of the coaching staff.)
-So who is Aron Winter? Well he was born in Suriname and is 43 years old. For the past 4 years he has been the coach of the Ajax Amsterdam Reserves.

dN

And is Robin Fraser ready to run Chivas USA?

STORY OF THE DAY

Tim Vickery of the BBC shows us the new young blossoms of South America, highlighting Brazilian Ganso of Santos.

TEAM USA

The annual January training camp for young and out-of season players with national team potential begins tomorrow Tue Jan 4 in Carson CA and ends with a friendly game on Sat Jan 22 at the Home Depot Center.

dN

Official team blog

dN

Arch Bell of Yanks Abroad talks to Ryan Miller about his first USA training camp call up.
-He played the entire season at Halmstads with a slight meniscus injury.

dN

Brian Sciaretta also of YA talks to goalkeeper Sean Johnson, the least experienced of the 4 keepers in the camp.

dN

Match & Score:
-Sat Jan 22
USA v Chile - 8pm Central on TV tbd.
Venue: Home Depot Center, Carson CA

dN

The entire 16 player Chilean squad for the game against the USA on Jan 22 is domestically based. Only 3 have double digit caps, while most have very few or none. Only forward Esteban Paredes was on their 2010 World Cup team where he came on as a sub in 2 group stage games, a win over Switzerland and a loss to Spain.

Chile Roster.
G:
Paulo Garces - Universidad Catolica
Raul Olivares - Colo Colo
D:
Lucas Domingez - Audax Italiano
Luis Pedro Figueroa - Union Espanola
Carlos Labrin - Huachipato
Paulo Magalhaes - Colo Colo
Eugenio Mena - Universidad de Chile
Sebastian Toro - Colo Colo
M:
Jose Pedro Fuenzalida - Colo Colo
Felipe Gutierrez - Universidad Catolica
Fernando Meneses - Universidad Catolica
Francisco Silva - Universidad Catolica
Felipe Seymour - Universidad de Chile
F:
Daud Gazale - Colo Colo
Esteban Paredes - Colo Colo
Edson Puch - Universidad de Chile

dN

USA Roster
G:
Dominic Cervi - Celtic
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
Matt Pickens - Colorado Rapids
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
A.J. DeLaGarza - Los Angeles Galaxy
Sean Franklin - Los Angeles Galaxy
Omar Gonzalez - Los Angeles Galaxy
Ugo Ihemelu - FC Dallas
Zach Loyd - FC Dallas
Ryan Miller - Halmstads
Tim Ream - New York Red Bulls
Anthony Wallace - Colorado Rapids
Marvell Wynne - Colorado Rapids
M:
Eric Alexander - FC Dallas
Alejandro Bedoya - Orebro
Sam Cronin - San Jose Earthquakes
Mikkel Diskerud - Stabaek
Jeff Larentowicz - Colorado Rapids
Dax McCarty - DC United
Brek Shea - FC Dallas
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Justin Braun - Chivas USA
Teal Bunbury - Sporting Kansas City
Chris Wondolowski - San Jose Earthquakes

ENGLAND

The Premier League is one of the very few around the world to play through Christmas and New Years etc, with as astonishing 4 rounds played in just 11 days. Here are some of the marquee games from the Top Four Clubs to see.

dN

In a very big move Chelsea drops out of the top 4 to #5, and Tottenham moves up!

Standings (as of Sun Jan 2):
41 Man United (19 played)
41 Man City (21 played)
39 Arsenal (20 played)
36 Tottenham (20 played)
- - - - - -
35 Chelsea (20 played)
29 Bolton (20 played)
27 Sunderland (20 played)

At the other end of the table there are only 7 points between 9th place Liverpool and 20th place Wolverhampton.

dN

Matches & Scores:
-Sat Jan 1
West Brom 1-2 Man United
Man City 1-0 Blackpool
Birmingham 0-3 Arsenal
Tottenahm 1-0 Fulham
-Sun Jan 2
Chelsea 3-3 Aston Villa
- - - - - -
-Tue Jan 4
Man United v Stoke
-Wed Jan 5
Arsenal v Man City
Wolverhampton v Chelsea
Everton v Tottenham

dN

And here is what our America players are up against during this stretch:
ENGLAND - Premier League

Clint Dempsey - Fulham - Last: Sat Jan 1 went the full 90 but lost 1-0 at Tottenham - Next: Tue Jan 4 v West Brom.
-Currently in 18th place with 19 points from 20 games.

Brad Friedel - Aston Villa - Last: Sun Jan 2 went the full 90 of a 3-3 draw at Chelsea - Next: Wed Jan 5 v Sunderland.
-Currently in 15th place with 21 points from 20 games.

Marcus Hahnemann - Last: Sat Jan 1 onthe bench as the lost 2-0 at West Ham - Next: Wed Jan 5 v Chelsea.
-Currently in 20th place with 18 points from 20 games.

Stuart Holden - Bolton - Last: Sat Jan 1 out with a thigh injury and they lost 2-1 at Liverpool - Next: Wed Jan 5 v Wigan.
-Currently in 7th place with 29 points from 21 games.

Tim Howard - Everton - Last: Sat Jan 1 in goal as usual but lost 2-0 at Stoke - Next: Wed Jan 5 v Tottenham.
-Currently in 13th place with 22 points from 20 games.

Eddie Johnson - Fulham - Last: Sat Jan 1 did not dress as they lost 1-0 at Tottenham - Next: Tue Jan 4 v West Brom.
-Currently in 18th place with 19 points from 20 games.

Eric Lichaj - Aston Villa - Last: Sun Jan 2 on the bench for a 3-3 draw at Chelsea - Next: Wed Jan 5 v Sunderland.
-Currently in 15th place with 21 points from 20 games.

Jonathan Spector - West Ham - Last: Sat Jan 1 did not dress for the game as they won 2-0 v Wolverhampton - Next: Wed Jan 5 at Newcastle.
-Currently in 16th place with 20 points from 21 games.

BIG EUROPEAN CLUB MATCHES THIS PAST WEEKEND

-Sun Jan 2
Celtic 2-0 Rangers - the Old Firm derby sees the Catholics beat the Protestants this time, and Celtic with 2 games more played are now 4 points ahead of Rangers.

HMMMMM, VERY INTERESTING

Steve Davis at Sports Illustrated gives us his 10 people in American soccer to keep your eyes on in 2011.

FACT OF THE DAY

Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria was the ESPN #1 Play of the Year.

MLS TEAM & PLAYER NEWS

CD CHIVAS USA

Michael Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune says RSL assistant coach Robin Fraser is leaving that team to become the new head coach of CUSA.

COLORADO RAPIDS

The team has signed veteran centerback Tyrone Marshall.

LA GALAXY

I bet that the vast majority of hardcore Galaxy fans wish Beckham would just leave instead of playing this insulting game of going out on load every offseason, then coming back all banged up. He has become a joke.

Steve Davis of Sports Illustrated on this years edition of the lame soap opera called David Beckman's Off-Season.
-Here is the most horrible part of this whole saga: "Bex has started only 16 regular-season MLS games over the last two seasons."

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

Contrary to previous rumors, it looks like Fred is going to sign on with the Revs.

MLS RUMORS

Columbus offered striker Jeff Cunningham a lowball contract so he is going to use rumors of a potential deal in Europe to get them to up their price. Will it work? Doubtful.

dN

Any MLS teams want South African forward Benni McCarthy? Kick off says he has suitors.

dN

Soccer 365 rolls with rumors on Jozy Altidore, Jermaine Jones, David Suazo, Carlos Vela and more.

USA U20 TEAM

The team will hold another training camp in early January as they get closer and closer to World Cup qualifying in April. This camp will run Jan 2-13 in Ft Lauderdale FL.

This looks to be a very talented group of players.

Here is the roster.
G:
Cody Cropper - Ipswich Town
Zac MacMath - Maryland
Brian Sylvestre - Vancouver Whitecaps
D:
Gale Agbossoumonde - Estoril Praia
Greg Garza - Estoril Praia
Moises Hernandez - FC Dallas
Sacir Hot - Boston College
Sebastian Ibeagha - Duke
Perry Kitchen - Akron
Zarek Valentin - Akron
Korey Veeder - No team
Ethan White - DC United
M:
Amobi Okugo - Philadelphia Union
Joe Gyau - Hoffenheim
Fabian Huerzeler - Bayern Munich
Sebastian Lletget - West Ham United
Alex Molano - Dinamo Zagreb
Moises Orozco - UANL Tigres
Dillon Powers - Notre Dame
Kelyn Rowe - UCLA
Conor Shanosky - DC United
Alex Zahavi - Maccabi Haifa
F:
Juan Agudelo - New York Red Bulls
Conor Doyle - Derby County
Omar Salgado - No team
Bobby Wood - 1860 Munich

AMERICANS IN EUROPE

Zak Whitbread made his debut and then started for Norwich after what seems like at least a year off due to injuries.

dN

Game Action: (only those that played are listed)

BELGIUM - Pro League
Sacha Kljestan - Anderlecht - Wed Dec 29 on the bench for a 0-2 win at Kortrijk
-They are now off until Sun Jan 23. And have a 6 point lead at top, but played 1 extra game.

ENGLAND - Championship League
Conor Doyle - Derby County - Wed Dec 29 on the bench as they got thumped 5-2 at Hottingham Forrest - Sat Jan 1 went the full 90 and won 1-2 at Preston - NEXT: Mon Jan 3 started and played the first half of a scoreless draw at Millwall.
Brad Guzan - Hull City - Sat Jan 1 made his debut in goal but lost 1-0 v Leicester - NEXT: Mon Jan 3 in goal for another win this time 2-3 at Portsmouth.
Zak Whitbread - Norwich - Tue Dec 28 came on as a sub in the 88th of a 4-2 win v Sheffield United - Sat Jan 1 went the distance in a 1-0 win v QPR - NEXT: Mon Jan 3 was on the bench for a 1-1 game at Middlesbrough.

ENGLAND - League One
Mike Grella - Carlisle United - Sat Jan 1 started and played 58 minutes as they drew 2-2 v Huddersfield
Anton Peterlin - Plymouth Argyle - Sat Jan 1 on the bench for scoreless draw v Yeovil
Frank Simek - Carlisle United - Sat Jan 1 went the distance and drew 2-2 v Huddersfield

SPAIN - Primera Division
Jozy Altidore - Villarreal - Mon Jan 3 - came on as a sub in the 83rd minute as they won 2-0 v Almeria.

MEXICO

Mexico's 2011 Primera Clausura season kicks off on Thursday with Necaxa hosting Jaguares.

Here are the full schedule for opening weekend.
Matches & Scores:
-Thu Jan 6
Necaxa v Chiapas Jaguares
-Fri Jan 7
Cruz Azul v Estudiantes Tecos
Queretaro v UANL Tigres
Monterrey v San Luis
-Sat Jan 8
Santos Laguna v Atlante
Atlas v Morelia
-Sun Jan 9
Toluca v UNAM Pumas
Puebla v Guadalajara

ENGLAND

Jacob Steinberg & John Ashdown of the Guardian with Five things we learned from watching the Premier League this past weekend.

dN

Gabriel Marcotti of the Wall Street Journal sees Manchester United as heavily flawed but amazingly somehow still unbeaten this season.

dN

Rob Hughes of the NY Times on the mediocrity of Liverpool.
-It took them a few years to really head down the drain, so it will take more than 3 months to pull out of it. Lets see where they are next year at this time, or better yet Jan 1 2013.

SPAIN

Ricky Kaka returns to action for Real Madrid today for the first time since the World Cup, which he played in injured.

dN

A knee injury for Real Madrid and Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain will knock him out of action for the rest of the season.
-Will he be back in time for Copa America?? Doubtful.

GERMANY

Ralf Rangnick has resigned as head coach of Hoffenheim. Supposedly he quit because the team sold a player without his knowledge so he decided it was time to go.
-He will be replaced by Marco Pezzaiuoli.

dN

Raphael Honigstein of Sports Illustrated gives us 10 Bundesliga story-lines to follow for 2011.

dN

FIFA.com does a Q & A with one of the truly loonys of our time, former goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

ITALY

Serie A is back with full rounds of games coming up on Thursday and Sunday. Napoli has a big test ahead
-Thu Jan 6
Inter v Napoli - the struggling title holders v the surprising #2
-Sun Jan 9
Napoli v Juventus - another massive game for the Blues this time against #4 Juve

EUROPE

Top Goal Scorers In Europes Biggest Leagues
21 Kenny Miller - Rangers
17 Lionel Messi - Barcelona
17 Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid
14 Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
14 Theofanis Gekas - Eintracht Frankfurt
14 Moussa Sow - Lille
13 Papiss Demba Cisse - Freiburg
13 Hulk - Porto
13 Nene - Paris St Germain
13 Bjorn Vleminckx - NEC

ALL AROUND THE WORLD

The CBC gives us a photo array of 11 young players to watch in 2011.