Friday, April 30, 2010

News and Views from Fri Apr 30

A Small Rant
Sometimes ya just gotta let it out. Sometimes it's big things that get to you, other times it's just those little annoying things.
  • rant : at tweet from today - DCUnited wins one, though it doesn't really count in MLS regular play so enjoy the empty victory ... the implication is that the US Open Cup means nothing.
MLS
Interesting Reads
World Cup
Player Moves
The Business of Soccer
Around the World
Club Tournaments

Thursday, April 29, 2010

News and Views from Thur Apr 29

MLS
World Cup
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Club Tournaments

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

News and Views from Wed Apr 28

MLS
Player Moves
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Around the World
World Cup
Club Tournaments

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

News and Views from Tues Apr 27

MLS
World Cup
Player Moves
Around the World
Interesting Reads



Club Tournaments

Sunday, April 25, 2010

After the Weekend Apr 24-25

MLS
Interesting Reads
World Cup
Around the World
Title and Champions League Races in Europe

 GP  W   D  L   GD  Pts 
EPL
 Chelsea  36   25  5  6  61  80 
 Manchester Utd 36   25  4  7  53  79 
 Arsenal  36   22  6  8  39  72 
 Tottenham 35   19  7  9  26  64 
 Aston Villa 36   17  13  6  16  64 
 Manchester City 35   17  12  6  27  63 
Bundesliga
 Bayern Munich 32   18  10  4  37  64 
 Schalke 04 32   19  7  6  24  64 
 Werder Bremen 32   16  9  7  29  57 
 Bayer Leverkusen 32   15  12  5  27  57 
 Dortmund 32   16  8  8  14  56 
 Stuttgart 32   15  8  9  10  53 
Ligue 1
 Marseille 34   21  8  5  30  71 
 Auxerre 34   19  9  6  13  66 
 Lille 34  18   7  9  28  61 
 Montpellier 34   17  9  8  7  60 
 Lyon 33  16   11  6  19  59 
 Bordeaux 33   17  6  10  18  57 
Serie A
 Internazionale 35   21  10  4  37  73 
 AS Roma 35   21  8  6  23  71 
 AC Milan 35   18  10  7  18  64 
 Sampdoria 35   17  9  9  6  60 
 Palermo 35   16  10  9  10  58 
 Juventus 35   16  6  13  3  54 
La Liga
 Barcelona 34   27  6  1  63  87 
 Real Madrid 34   28  2  4  59  86 
 Valencia 34   18  8  8  16  62 
 Mallorca 34   16  8  10  15  56 
 Sevilla FC 34   16  6  12  10  54 
 Villareal 34   15  7  12  4  52 

Friday, April 23, 2010

News and Views from Fri Apr 23

MLS

Interesting Reads

World Cup

Club Tournaments


Enjoy the Weekend!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

News and Views from Wed Apr 21

MLS
World Cup
Around the World
Summer Friendlies in North America

Summer Club Friendlies
Opponents VenueDate
 Tottenham v San Jose  Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, CASat, July 17
 Cruzeiro v NE  Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MASun, June 13
 AC Milan v Montreal Impact  Olympic Stadium, Montreal, CAWed, June 02
 AC Milan v Chicago Fire  Toyota Park, Bridgeview, ILSun, May 30
 AC Milan v DCU  RFK Stadium, Washington, DCWed, May 26
 Juventus v Fiorentina  Rogers Centre, Toronto, CATue, May 25
 Juventus v RBNY  Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJSun, May 23
 Fiorentina v Montreal Impact  Olympic Stadium, Montreal, CASun, May 23

Don't know how well the Cruzeiro/Revs match will do as there is a full slate of World Cup matches on that date, but neither the US nor Brasil play on the 13th. The detractors of these friendlies have already been making their voices heard. As most of these are post season friendlies(for the visiting teams), the best players will be off with their national teams preparing for the World Cup, while the remainder of the best, might be inclined to rest after a busy season. I suspect only contractural agreements would have us see any of the top players not participating in the Cup. The one exception is the Tottenham/SJ match which will be after the WC.

The Business of Soccer
Club Tournaments

Sunday, April 18, 2010

After the Weekend Apr 17-18

MLS
Interesting Reads
Around the World

Title and Champions League Races in Europe

 GP  W   D  L   GD  Pts 
EPL
 Chelsea  35   24  5  6  54  77 
 Manchester Utd 35   24  4  7  51  76 
 Arsenal  35   22  5  8  39  71 
 Tottenham 34   19  7  8  28  64 
 Manchester City 34   17  11  6  27  62 
 Aston Villa 34   15  3  6  13  58 
Bundesliga
 Bayern Munich 31   18  9  4  37  63 
 Schalke 04 31   18  7  6  23  61 
 Werder Bremen 31   15  9  7  28  54 
 Bayer Leverkusen 31   14  12  5  24  54 
 Dortmund 31   15  8  8  13  53 
 Stuttgart 31   14  8  9  8  50 
Ligue 1
 Marseille 33   20  8  5  29  68 
 Auxerre 33   18  9  6  10  63 
 Lyon 33  16   11  6  19  59 
 Montpellier 33   17  8  8  7  59 
 Lille 33  17   7  9  27  58 
 Bordeaux 32   17  6  9  19  57 
Serie A
 AS Roma 34   21  8  5  24  71 
 Internazionale 34   20  10  4  35  70 
 AC Milan 34   18  10  6  20  64 
 Sampdoria 34   16  9  9  4  57 
 Palermo 34   15  10  9  8  55 
 Napoli 34  13   13  8  5  52 
La Liga
 Barcelona 33   26  6  1  61  84 
 Real Madrid 33   27  2  4  58  83 
 Valencia 33   17  8  8  15  59 
 Sevilla FC 33   16  6  11  11  54 
 Mallorca 32   15  7  10  13  52 
 Villareal 33   14  7  12  3  49 


Friday, April 16, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

News and Views from Thur Apr 15

MLS
Player Moves(MLS transfer window closed Apr 15, reopens July 15)

Many people expected a flurry of DP signings by April 15th. Unless teams are holding back announcements, it appears that the window after the World Cup will be the busy signing period. And of course, the cap will only take a half hit for the balance of the season for July signings.
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Around the World

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

News and Views from Wed Apr 14

MLS

Player Moves
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
MLS US Open Qualifying Schedule
  • Game D: Colorado Rapids 2 Kansas City Wizards 1
  • Game C: Real Salt Lake 3 San Jose Earthquakes 3 - RSL 5-3 on PK's
  • Game A: Philadelphia Union at New York Red Bulls - Apr 27 8pm ET
  • Game E: FC Dallas at D.C. United - Apr 28
  • Game B: New England Revolution at Philadelphia Union or New York Red Bulls - May 12
  • Game E: FC Dallas at D.C. United - Apr 28
  • Game F: Game B winner vs. Game D winner (winner qualifies), home team TBD
  • Game G: Game C winner vs. Game E winner (winner qualifies), home team TBD
  • Games A-E: Games to be completed by the end of April
  • Games F-G: Games to be completed by the end of May
  • Toronto ineligible-Top 6 point getters from 2009 automatically qualify.
  • And here is the USASA Region 1 Open schedule.
Club Tournaments

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

News and Views from Tues Apr 13

MLS
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
Player Moves
Also
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Around the World

Monday, April 12, 2010

News and Views from Mon Apr 12

MLS
Player Moves
Interesting Reads
Around the World

Sunday, April 11, 2010

After the Weekend Apr 10-11

Feeling pretty good. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is the first year I've decided to root for a specific MLS team. It's the Union, since Philly was the last place I lived that has an MLS club. Am just over the moon with the way Philly fans turned out for the home opener. The win was just a bonus. Now I just hope the enthusiasm will remain as the team is likely to experience some difficulties with 7 of its next 8 games on the road as they wait for the completion of their new home, PPL Park. I'll also be watching closely once PPL Park opens to see if folks will make the short trek to Chester. Philly fans have grown accustomed to 'one-stop shopping' for their major teams, all located at the Sports Complex in South Philly. Meanwhile, Go Union!

MLS
USSF D2 Play Begins
Interesting Reads
Around the World

Title and Champions League Races in Europe

 GP  W   D  L   GD  Pts 
EPL
 Chelsea  33   23  5  5  54  74 
 Manchester Utd 34   23  4  7  50  73 
 Arsenal  33   22  5  6  41  71 
 Manchester City 33   17  11  5  28  62 
 Tottenham 32   17  7  8  26  58 
 Liverpool 34   16  8  10  21  56 
Bundesliga
 Bayern Munich 30   17  9  4  30  60 
 Schalke 04 30   17  7  6  21  58 
 Bayer Leverkusen 30   14  12  4  25  54 
 Dortmund 30   15  7  8  13  52 
 Werder Bremen 30   14  9  7  26  51 
 Hamburg SV 30   12  12  6  16  48 
Ligue 1
 Marseille 31   18  8  5  27  62 
 Auxerre 32   17  9  6  7  60 
 Lyon 32  16   10  6  19  58 
 Montpellier 32   17  7  8  7  58 
 Bordeaux 30   17  5  8  20  56 
 Lille 32  16   7  9  23  55 
Serie A
 AS Roma 33   20  8  5  23  68 
 Internazionale 33   19  10  4  33  67 
 AC Milan 33   18  10  5  21  64 
 Palermo 33   15  9  9  8  54 
 Sampdoria 33   15  9  9  3  54 
 Juventus 33   15  6  12  2  51 
La Liga
 Barcelona 31   25  5  1  58  80 
 Real Madrid 31   25  2  4  55  77 
 Valencia 31   16  8  7  15  56 
 Sevilla FC 31   15  6  10  9  51 
 Mallorca 31   15  6  10  13  51 
 Athletic Bilbao 31   14  6  11  3  48 

Thursday, April 8, 2010

News and Views from Thur Apr 8

MLS
  • Huge News! Each MLS team may have two Home Grown players in addition to the current 24 man rosters.
  • For a good overview of the story, Drew Epperly has done a fine job at WVHooligan.This is additional encouragement of the academy system, in which MLS clubs are mandated to have at least two youth teams, U-18 and U-16.
USSF D2
Player Moves
Interesting Reads
Around the World
Club Tournaments

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

News and Views from Wed Apr 7

MLS

Player Moves

Interesting Reads

The Business of Soccer

MLS US Open Qualifying Schedule

Club Tournaments