Some Soccer News for Jul 31, 2017

It's Day 212 of 2017.


Opening Day Across Europe's biggest leagues:

• France - Aug 4
• Scotland - Aug 5
• Portugal - Aug 6
• England - Aug 11
• Netherlands - Aug 11
• Turkey - Aug 11
• Germany - Aug 18
• Spain - Aug 18
• Italy - Aug 19

dN

Video Assistant Referee comes to MLS starting next Saturday.

• Not everyone is excited. By Kurt Larson of the Toronto Sun. -Just know that it won't go smooth out of the gate, so don't waste your time being upset. There will be bugs to work out.
• One former player said: "Shit's gonna get weird." Hahahahahahaha.

dN

MINNESOTA UNITED

My MNUFC Notes:

• Minimal game highlights [VIDEO]
• 4 goals is 4 goals right?
• And a shutout is a shutout right?
• The whole game must be reviewed through the lens of "DC United is the worst team in the league."
• So its not like MN pasted a quality opponent. Lets save the superlatives and admit that this is the score that was to be expected.
• Ramirez goal was a nice piece of teamwork - Molino makes a great play and pass and Ramirez finishes with power:

?????????? #11 Assist: @_nash10 ??????

A post shared by Christian Ramirez (@christianramirez_21) on Jul 30, 2017 at 8:38am PDT

• Molino stepped up with 2 big assists. He played some defense too. Solid game from him. This is what fans should expect from Hot Boy.
• Strong goal from Danladi too, beating Hamid at the near post is no easy feat.
• Great to see Calvo back in the lineup. And watching him bomb forward on two occasions was a thing of beauty.
• Boxall and Nicholson both started and were again OK. Nothing special. There are better players on the team at their positions.
• Thiesson! What can you say. His wife had a baby on Thursday or Friday, and there he was going 90 minutes flat out. Becoming one of the best right fullbacks in the league.
• Ibarra posted a note on the net Friday night showing that he was not starting and expressing his frustration. He came on for the injured Ramirez in the 43rd. He played hard and ran fast. His slightly overhit cross turned in to an own goal, which was pretty glorious. Late in the game he juked and jumped to make space and then took a shot that Bill Hamid got a hand to but could not keep out of the net. Good game. But take your frustrations out on the field, not Twitter.
• Someone suggested we piss off before the game Ibarra every week if he is going to play like that.
• Cronin and Ibson looked their age - wear and tear, they need a break.

Kevin Molino has one of his best games for Minnesota. By Megan Ryan for the Star Tribune.

• He still has a long way to go to prove his worth. The 3 previous games were well below par.

Schedule:
-Sat Jul 29
Minnesota 4-0 DC - MU goals by Ramirez, Danladi, OG, and Ibarra.
-Sat Aug 5
Minnesota v Seattle - 7pm CT on My29

dN

Jon Jones is once again the UFC light heavyweight champion - with serious aplomb:

A post shared by Jon Bones Jones (@jonnybones) on Jul 30, 2017 at 1:23am PDT

dN

MLS

The impact of 6 big games last weekend in 1 word:

• Atl-Orl - Deadlock
• Dal-Van - Stunner
• Hou-Por - Deficient
• KC-Chi - Overcame
• LA-Sea - Lame
• Tor-NYC - Masters

Media:

• Expert analysis on what went down in MLS. By Matt Doyle for MLS.
• Oh Pirlo! And much more from a great week in MLS. By Alexander Abnos for Sports Illustrated.

Sebastian Giovinco already has 50 MLS goals. Here they are. [VIDEO]

• 10 are via Free Kicks!

Week 21 Results:
(12 games)
-Wed Jul 26
Philadelphia 3-0 Columbus
-Sat Jul 29
Atlanta 1-1 Orlando
New England 3-0 Philadelphia
New York Red Bulls 4-0 Montreal
Dallas 0-4 Vancouver
Houston 2-2 Portland
Kansas City 3-2 Chicago
Minnesota 4-0 DC
Salt Lake 2-2 Columbus
San Jose 1-0 Colorado
LA 0-0 Seattle
-Sun Jul 30
Toronto 4-0 New York City

38 goals in 12 games = 3.2 gpg.

Week 22 Schedule:
(11 games) -Sat Aug 5
DC v v Toronto
Philadelphia v Dallas
Montreal v Orlando
Minnesota v Seattle
Chicago v New England
Colorado v Vancouver
Salt Lake v Houston
San Jose v Columbus
-Sun Aug 6
Portland v LA - 3:00pm CT on ESPN
NYC v NYRB - 5:00pm CT on FS1
KC v Atlanta - 7:00pm CT on FS1

As a fan of a specific team, how would you like to see this come across your news feed: Owners of DC United are shopping their team - now that they have a stadium deal done and the value has gone up considerably. By Michael J. de la Merced and Andrew Ross Sorkin for the New York Times.

• I don't think it will take long for Minnesota United to be for sale either.

Big move for a player with a ton of potential: Seattle's Joevin Jones has been signed by Darmstadt in the German 2nd division, and will move in January. He contract is up at the end of the MLS season.

As a team in Miami run by David Beckham silently inches closer to reality, the hurdles continue to be a challenge. By Ken Belson for the New York Times.

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Eric Calvillo of New York Cosmos named NASL Player Of The Week

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LIGA MX

Atlas + Necaxa are the only two teams with 2 wins after Round 2.

• Pachuca, Tijuana, Veracruz and Leon have 2 losses.

dN

GUARDIAN 2017-18 PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW:

Arsenal
Bournemouth

dN

All of my columns for 1500ESPN.



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