Puddle's Best XI of 2011

Let me preface this by saying that I am by no means a pro at this, and unfortunately my ability to watch Spanish and German football is very limited, but here are my picks for the best XI of 2011. This is surely the highest honor these players will ever receive.

GK--Iker Casillas, Real Madrid
RB--Dani Alves, Barcelona
CB--Vincent Kompany, Manchester City
CB--Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United
LB--Philipp Lahm, Bayern Munich
MF--Yaya Toure, Manchester City
MF--Andres Iniesta, Barcelona
MF--Bastian Schweinsteiger, Bayern Munich
F--Robin Van Persie, Arsenal
F--Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
F--Lionel Messi, Barcelona

No surprise, my player of the year is Lionel Messi.

I'd like to thank everyone who takes any time to read my little blog. I have a good time writing it, and I hope maybe it at least stimulates some of you to think more and write about the Beautiful Game we all know and love.

I hope the end of 2011 has been good to you all, and that 2012 is better than you can even imagine.

Peace be upon you, good luck in 2012!
--Brandon

EPL: Norwich vs. Tottenham

About this time last season, those of us that watch the Barclay's Premier League were witnessing the curious case of Blackpool, newly promoted from the Championship and still hanging around the top half of the table come the festive period. Well, we all know how that turned out, unfortunately for the Tangerines.

This season all three of the promoted squads have done alright. QPR has the money a their disposal to try to buy the players to stay up. Swansea has been junk on the road but in very good form at home in Wales. Norwich has played pretty much everybody tough and has garnered my respect as an EPL fan.

This match against Tottenham was always going to be tough though. You'd really be hard pressed to find an EPL side in better form coming than Spurs, and they certainly flexed their muscles against the Canaries, or at least Gareth Bale did. To say that the Spurs really controlled the match would not really be an understatement, they had the possession and the chances.

Norwich fought hard, but really had a hard time getting chances from what possession they did get. Their best chance of the first half came on 16 minutes as David Fox smacked a line drive on goal, only to be easily corralled by Brad Friedel.

The two sides emerged from the half time break still level at nil-nil. That's when Gareth Bale took over. His first goal came on 55 minutes as he took a ball from Adebayor in the center of the area and slotted it home to give Spurs the 0-1 lead. Then in the 67th minute, he put the final nail in the coffin, breaking away after a through ball from Modric and outrunning everyone on the pitch. He beat the 'keeper and put in the back of the Canary net to make it 0-2.

That was more than enough for Spurs. Norwich just could not fashion a real quality chance to save their lives and Tottenham held on for the 0-2 win, giving them an even bigger hold on one of the Champions League spots.

Ancelotti Now In Charge at PSG

One of the long expected moves at free spending Paris St. Germain has now come to pass. Today the French side officially named former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager. The deal runs for 2 and half years.

Ancelotti takes over from Antoine Kombouare, who left the job despite the fact that PSG is at the top of the table in France. Ancelotti stated that he wanted to help the Paris club become one of the big clubs in Europe.

Ancelotti has guided both Ac Milan and Chelsea in the Champions League, and won the domestic double in England two years ago with the Blues. PSG has not won Ligue Un since 1994 and has not been in the Champions League in 7 years.

Columbus Crew 2012 Home Jersey

PHOTO: Worldsoccershop.com


Columbus Crew 2012 Authentic Home Soccer Jersey - WorldSoccerShop.com


Looks like the Columbus Crew are going with the collar on their new 2012 Home Jersey. I like. Looks sharp. Check it out at World Soccer Shop.

Central Coast Mariners Losing Matt Simon

Some fairly big transfer news for the Hyundai A-League coming out of Australia tonight, or tomorrow morning local time.

Central Coast Mariners striker Matt Simon has announced that he will be leaving for the K-League side Chunnam Dragons on a 3 year deal. Simon announced that he's always wanted to ply his trade overseas and that he sees this as the next step in his career. His last game in Mariners colors is expected to be January 4 against the Victory.

Simon played on the 2008 Australian Olympic team and has been capped twice for Socceroos. The 25 year old striker has 5 goals in the campaign for Central Coast, good enough for first on the team and 5th overall in the Hyundai A-League.

Best of luck to him as he tries to further his career.

EPL: Liverpool vs. Blackburn

I can't imagine what it's like to be a Liverpool supporter right now. The season got underway with a lot of promise and some high expectations. There's no doubt that since the new owners took over they've put out money into the club in order to get it back to it's former place at the summit of European soccer.

It hasn't quite worked out that way for Reds though, at least not yet. While the results have been better than those of the short and tension filled reign of Roy Hodgson, they haven't been great. Sure, they're unbeaten at Anfield, but even that is tempered by the fact that they've left a whole lot of points on the table with home draws.

Ultimately this fixture against Rovers was no different. It would be more than fair to say that Liverpool dominated the EPL's cellar dwellers, but it didn't translate into goals. Indeed, the Reds held 65 percent possession, out shot Blackburn 27 to 6, and created many more chances. However in the end, the Reds downfall came off of one of their own men.

The soon to be sitting Luis Suarez got Liverpool off to a hot start, getting a trio of chances in the opening minutes. The best of which was probably a free kick that he sent just wide. None of the three found the target however, leaving the Uruguay international frustrated.

Much maligned Liverpool striker Andy Carroll started for the Reds for the first time in several matches and tried to make an impact. He found the back of the net on 30 minutes, but it was ruled no good for offside. Liverpool then tried to claim a penalty as Maxi Rodriguez was brought down in the box, but the offside flag foiled them again.

Blackburn didn't do much all match long, yet they had the lead at half time. Unfortunately for Liverpool, it was from an own goal. Blackburn's Morten Pedersen set up for a corner right before the half, and it found it's way into the Liverpool net off of Charlie Adam to give Rovers the 0-1 lead at half time.

The second half saw more of the same with Liverpool holding the possession and attacking. Liverpool found the equalizer in the 53rd minute as Martin Skrtel put in a cross that was clinically headed in by Maxi Rodriguez to make it 1-1.

That was the way the score would stay until full time, as Liverpool could not capitalize on anymore chances and dropped yet more points at Anfield. The positive for Liverpool is this: Steven Gerrard checking in on 69 minutes and playing well. Unfortunately for the Reds, with a long absence probably upcoming for Suarez, they're going to have find some more goals.

Celtic's Joe Ledley's Goal vs. Rangers

So those of us here in the states got skunked on seeing the Old Firm Derby, which is up there with the best rivalries in football. Here is the only goal of the game, a stunning header from Celtic's Joe Ledley. Celtic won the match 1-0 over Rangers.

That's Right, I Said "Split Scrotum."

I'm only posting this because there's not much going on post-Boxing Day, and I feel horrible for the poor guy.

This is injury news that will make every male football fan wince. Chris Whelpdale, a winger for the English club Gillingham, suffered a SPLIT SCROTUM from a high tackle in a Boxing Day match against Crawley. It required 5 stitches to close it back up.

Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler said "It's a horrific injury. He's going to be very sore and I'm sure his wife won't be too happy either."

Whelpdale had this to say to Gillingham's official website:

"It's alright to be fair, I had a bit of a shock when I saw it but when it initially happened I thought it was just a normal whack in the area, but then about three or four minutes later it was hurting, I did have a look and that's when I was a bit shocked. I'm hoping to be fit for Friday, I've just been out and bought a jockstrap, so I'll pad it all up and I should be ok to play on Friday."

Whelpdale also reveals to the site that while his teammates and wife did feel sorry for him, they've also poked fun at him, and his wife "had a giggle."

I hope the poor guy is ok in every way. Quite the story. Read the article from Gillingham's website here.

EPL: Swansea City vs. QPR

This is going to be short. I've been trying to come up with at least one interesting nugget about the match, but it's not really happening.

Swans have been more than formidable at home all season long. This has helped them out quite a bit because they've been total junk on the road. Will home form be enough to keep them up in the EPL? I guess we shall see.

They pretty much dominated the first half, playing their particular brand of possession football. They were working QPR pretty hard, but nothing was really coming of it. Not even a half chance for either side.

However Swansea got the first half's only goal in the 14th minute. Danny Graham took a ball near the top of the area, put two defenders between himself and the 'keeper, and squirted it into the net to give the Swans a 1-0 lead. This was not without controversy though, as the ball pretty clearly struck Graham's arm as he brought it down. The referee deemed it unintentional and let the goal stand. Swansea took the 1-0 lead into half time.

Neil Warnock must have fired up his troops in the locker room, because they really took the fight to Swansea in the second half, and they needed to. Coming into this match, QPR had only taken 1 point out of the last possible 15. They got the equalizer in the 58th minute as Jamie Mackie chested down a ball and volleyed it past the Swansea keeper to make it 1-1.

The controversy didn't end in the first half though. Late in the match Graham was brought down in the area by QPR's Armand Traore. However the referee was not interested and waved play on, Perhaps it was a bit of a make up call for the hand ball, because it appeared, to me anyway, to be a pretty clear penalty.

EPL: Manchester United vs. Wigan

I'm not really sure how to describe this match. All being said, it wasn't much of a match. I think Ian Darke put it best at half time when he said that United had it as "smooth as a ride on Santa's Sleigh." Wigan just looked from the opening whistle like they didn't expect anything from the match, and they certainly didn't play like they did. That's a little odd, Wigan can certainly play with teams when they're up for it, they just obviously weren't up for it.

United dominated the match from the kick off. At one point they had a 97% share of the possession over a 5 minute spell. If that's not a record, I'd be surprised. The Red Devils got the goals going early. In the 8th minute, Patrice Evra slid an easy ball into Ji-Sung Park, who calmly stroked the ball into the net to make it 1-0 to United.

It's really hard to find a bright spot for Wigan. There were a couple of big bumps though. In the 40th minute they were reduced to 10 men as Conor Sammon was hit with a red card for an arm across the face of Michael Carrick. It looked worse than it was, but the ref issued the red card. Then in the 41st minute Dimitar Berbatov scored his first of three to make 2-0 United at the half.

They didn't let up on the 10 man Wigan squad in the second half either. Berbatov again made his presence felt on 58 minutes, blasting a shot into the top shelf of the Wigan goal to make it 3-0. The route was on.

Not to be outdone by Berbatov's searing strike, Antonio Valencia smashed one across the 'keeper in the 74th minute to make it 4-0. It was an absolute laser. Finally the scoring ended in the 78th, as Berbatov easily converted a PK to make it 5-0 and earn his hat trick.

You can't say enough about the way United has responded to their Champions League exit. They've just came out and fought like a rabid, mad animal ever since. If they're not going to be in the running for the European Cup, they damn well want the Premiership. Sorry Man City, I'm not going to bet against them doing it either. Just sayin.

Yaya Toure Wins 2011 African Player of the Year Award

I'd like to extend congratulations to Manchester City's Yaya Toure, who yesterday was named African Player of the year for 2011. The award is handed out by C.A.F., the Confederation of African Football, and was announced in Accra, Ghana.

Toure is an Ivory Coast international as well as a vital part of City's squad. He scored in the last FA Cup final, helping City claim the trophy over Stoke City.

Congratulations Yaya Toure!

EPL: Newcastle vs. West Brom

This was a match that looked almost Italian like in nature, with the home squad dominating stretches and the road side doing work on the counter. West Brom did quite a bit of damage on the counter to Newcastle.

A win over the Baggies could have put Newcastle into the top 5 going into Christmas. This was despite the fact that they were winless in their last 5, which I'm sure Alan Pardew still blames on Chelsea.

The match started somewhat tentatively, with neither side really being all that adventurous in creating chances. Still, Newcastle looked the more dangerous side and started to get their feet under them.

Even though West Brom was clearly on the back foot, they drew first blood in this one. In the 20th minute, Chris Brunt triggered a Baggies' counter with a long but deadly accurate through ball that freed up Peter Odemwingie. The striker then scooted around a defender and slotted it home to make it 0-1 to West Brom.

However Newcastle was not deterred and responded pretty well. After a nervous couple of minutes, they got back on the ball and resumed the attack. This finally paid off for them in the 34th minute, off the foot of Demba Ba. Ba took a free kick from just outside the penalty arc and slammed it in to the corner of the net to equalize 1-1.

You might have been forgiven at that point if you thought the half was out of goals, but you would have been wrong. Newcastle has had some issues defending set pieces this season, and it bit them in the 44th minute. Brunt sent in a gorgeous free kick that found it's way from the head of Gareth McAuley into the back of the net to make it 1-2 Baggies at the half.

Newcastle opened the 2nd half with a flurry of pressure, but couldn't find an equalizer. This led to a golden chance for West Brom to ice the match. In the 53rd minute Shane Long roared up the pitch on the counter, beat the 'keeper, but put his open net shot off the bottom of the crossbar. It really was unbelievable.

It looked like that miss would come back to haunt West Brom as well. Demba Ba was by far the most dangerous Newcastle player, and in fact he's scored over half of the Premier League goals for them so far. In the 81st minute he let a shot loose from just inside the area which zoomed past the West Brom 'keeper and equalized the match at 2-2.

However in the end West Brom were not to be denied the three points. Just 4 minutes after the Ba equalizer, they came up with a Glorious winner. Chris Brunt sent a cross in from the right to Peter Odemwingie, Odemwingie headed the ball back to an onrushing Paul Scharner, and the midfielder finished off the goal to make it 2-3 at full time.

All I can say for the Newcastle supporters is: ouch. However it was a tremendous match and both teams worked their guts out.

Now THIS Is An OWN GOAL!

Well if you're going to put the ball into your own net, at least do it in style!

English FA Bans Suarez Eight Matches

The FA today dealt a pretty big blow to Luis Suarez, Liverpool, and Liverpool's supporters. They issued the Uruguay international an eight game ban for "racially abusing" United's Patrice Evra in a match earlier this year.


PHOTO: theaustralian.com.au

Evra claims Suarez "racially abused" him at least 10 times during the match. He reported it to the referee, who did include the allegation in his match report. The FA said they found the charges proven, however, they're suspending the ban for 14 days to allow Suarez to appeal.

Suarez has said that the problem arose because he didn't know that certain language used in Uruguay was considered racist in Europe. Suarez himself is of mixed heritage, and both Evra and the FA have stated that they do not believe Suarez is a racist. Now we wait for the appeal.

EPL: Wolves vs. Stoke City

Not sure why Fox Soccer elected to show this one. These two teams aren't squads that I check out much. You have to admit though, Stoke City is SOLID. A lot of folks probably don't like their style, but they're getting the job done and picking up the results. In the end of the day, that's what matters.

Stoke had their problems in the first half of this one though, as Wolves certainly had the brighter start. The Potters had plenty of trouble with Matt Jarvis, which is why I picked him for my fantasy team, but they really weren't grinding out a ton of high quality chances. They did get one from Ronald Zubar, who got a shot after a pass from Jarvis, but his shot just scooted by the post.

There was some first half controversy as well. In the 10th minute Jonathan Woodgate got the first yellow card of the match for bringing down the pesky Jarvis. Then in the 16th minute he brought down Jarvis yet again, this time in the area. Wolves were awarded a PK, but the fould really could have, and some would say should have, earned a second yellow and a sending off. However, the ref was lenient. Stephen Hunt hit the penalty and Wolves took the 1-0 lead on 17 minutes.

However it was Wolves finding the back of their own net that let Stoke back into the match. Stoke got a free kick chance in the 58th minute and Glenn Whalen sent it in for the Potters. It took a deflection off of Wolves' Kevin Doyle and shot past the 'keeper to make it 1-1.

Stoke fin ally wrapped up the 3 points in the 70th minute. Matthew Etherington, hero of Stoke's last outing, sent a cross in for Peter Crouch. The England striker got on the end of it and put it far post to make it 1-2 to Stoke, which was the full time result.

Don't look now, but here come the Potters. It was Stoke's 4th straight Premier League win, and they're even taking the Europa League seriously!

David Villa Out 5-6 Months

Well, the bad news that Barca fans didn't want to hear came out yesterday. David Villa will have surgery on his broken leg on Monday and will out be out 5-6 months. Some reports are saying 4-5 months, but most of the ones I'm seeing this morning are saying 5-6. Either way, it's going to be a long road back for Villa.

Villa broke his leg against Al Sadd in the Club World Cup in Japan. Earlier today, Barca beat Santos of Brazil 4-0 to claim the Club World Cup title. More on that later.

A League Action: Melbourne Victory vs. Wellington Phoenix

YES.

I think I can speak for a lot of Melbourne Victory supporters when I say I've been waiting to see this match out of them all season. We know they're capable of finding this kind of form, and it was nice to see them get it done.

The Victory got on the board first in the 5th minute. Costa Rican Carlos Hernandez dished off to Billy Celeski, who put in a great cross for Archie Thompson. Thompson, who has been the star for the Victory all season, headed the ball into goal to put the Victory up 1-0.

Harry Kewell combined with Archie in the tenth to force a save from the Wellington 'keeper. Unfortunately for Kewell, he was yellow carded for diving, trying to secure a PK. Melbourne got their 2nd goal of the match on 22 minutes when Carlos Hernandez's shot deflected off of Wellington's Vince Lia for an own goal.

However, Melbourne wasn't done in the first half and Kewell was involved on the third. On 25 minutes he sent in a cross to Ferreira, who blasted a GOLAZO into the net to give the Victory a 3-0 half time lead.

Unfortunately it wasn't all wonderful news in the second half for the Victory. Kewell had a couple of great chances to score, but he just couldn't quite finish. Celeski was sent off in the 78th minute for his second yellow, and Archie appeared to take a knock to the ankle. Wellington scored a cosmetic goal on 85 minutes and the match ended 3-1.

The result puts the Victory up to 5th place in the table. Their next match is the Christmas derby against the Heart.


PHOTO: footballaustralia.com.au

New Dynamo Stadium Gets A Name

I love seeing all the brand new stadiums coming to MLS, and the folks in Houston certainly deserve their new digs. Today the club announced that the stadium's official name will be "BBVA Compass Stadium."

Yes, THAT BBVA.

BBVA has a big presence in Houston with some 40 branches and a corporate office. BBVA is also the title sponsor of La Liga, Spain's first division. They also sponsor various individual players including Real Madrid's Iker Casillas.

Congrats to Houston, can't wait to see the stadium on my TV.

Italian Match Thoughts: Inter Milan vs. Fiorentina

I'll be the first to admit as an Inter supporter that there hasn't been too much to cheer about with the Nerazzurri this season. Despite the early coaching change, they've been mired in the bottom half of the Serie A table all season. Now, maybe things are looking up just a bit. Inter won passage into the knockout round of the Champions League, and have strung together a couple of wins in Serie A. One of those came against Fiorentina last weekend at the San Siro.

Really this game was all Inter. Fiorentina never did muster much of a fight, but they did outlast a furious storm from Inter in the opening minutes. Giampaollo Pazzini got one of the best chances in the game in the 4th minute. Coutinho put a great ball in for him and he sliced a shot through at the 'keeper, who barely held on. Pazzini tried again with two headers in the 10 and 18th minutes, both of which narrowly missed wide.

After that it looked like Pazzini was going to be in the goals for Inter. He finally found the back of the net in the 41st minute. Coutinho again put in a ball for him, a ball that honestly wasn't as good as the 4th minute chance. However, Pazzini got to it and just managed to tap it past the 'keeper to make it 1-0 to Inter, which held until the interval.

The traffic in the second half wasn't quite one way like the first, but Inter wrapped up the three points fairly early on. In the 49th minute, two Fiorentina defenders collided going for the ball. That left it easily for Yuto Nagatomo, who calmly tapped it by the thunderstruck 'keeper to make it 2-0 Inter and seal the three points.

That win took Inter a ways from the relegation zone. Then on Tuesday they beat Genoa 0-1. That result puts them all the way up to 7th in the crowded Serie A table.

United's Fletcher Out Indefinitely

I'd like to pass on well wishes to Manchester United's Darren Fletcher. The 27 year old Scottish international announced today that he will be taking an extended break from football due to medical circumstances.

Fletcher has been diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis. It's a chronic bowel disease with no known cure. The symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, blood loss, weight loss and fatigue. United's website commented that "Darren's continued desire to play and his loyalty to both his club and country has probably compromised the chances of optimizing his own health and fitness."

Hopefully Darren can recover and get back to football for both Manchester United and Scotland.

MLS, Sporting KC Send Omar Bravo to Cruz Azul

I don't care how you try to spin it, there was some tough news today for Sporting Kansas City fans. Designated Player and 2011 top scorer Omar Bravo has been sent to Cruz Azul in the Mexican Primera Division.

As per league policy, MLS does not comment these deals. Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes said it was purely a business move that benefited Cruz, Sporting, and Omar Bravo. Translated, Cruz probably paid a good chunk of change for the former Mexican international.

Vermes noted that it will give the club more flexibility in going after another DP. He also said that all of their DP targets are attackers.

I hope so, for the sake of Sporting supporters. Right now folks, your left forward is BOBBY CONVEY.

Good luck with that.

Congrats to UANL Tigres, 2011 Mexican Apertura Champions!

Congratulations are in order for UANL Tigres, who last night beat Santos to clinch the 2011 Apertura title in the Mexican Primera Division.



Tigres beat Santos 3-1 last night at home after defeating them 0-1 on the road in the first leg of the final. It was a pretty exciting game in the first half, not so much in the second. In the 12th minute, Santos 'keeper Oswaldo Sanchez was shown the red card for a challenge in the area on Tigres' Danilinho. However, the backup 'keeper came in and promptly saved the PK.

Then in the 31st minute Santos hit back. Mexico international Oribe Peralta scored a tap in off of a nice ball to even the aggregate score at 1-1 going into the half.

Tigres came out and put the title away in the second half though. They scored three goals, two by Danilinho and one by Hector Mancilla, to make the final aggregate score 4-1.

The win marks UANL's first title in 29 years. Santos has been runner up in 3 of the last 4 Mexican Primera finals.

Congrats to Tigres, and the 2012 Clausura starts January 6!

EPL: Arsenal vs. Everton

I would be tempted to describe this match as a snoozefest. However, I think there's a better word to describe it, frustrating. Well, I guess it would be frustrating to a neutral like myself, or to an Arsenal fan. For some reason the Gunners just could not finish in this one. Now, I'm sure that suits Everton's fans just fine.

Everton played real nose to the grindstone football, as they are known to do. They certainly don't generally have the fire power to keep up with the Big Four, so they play the way that gives them the best chance, which is just fine. They played well defensively in this one too, but in the end a lot of Arsenal's misfirings came down to them, not the Toffees.

One thing that Everton did extremely well throughout the match was execute the offside trap. Theo Walcott got caught three times just in the opening minutes. Robin Van Persie ended up getting caught as well. It was flag after flag. However, when Arsenal did manage to stay onside, they created some chances. Aaron Ramsey caused the Toffee defense some problems, but couldn't trouble Tim Howard. He missed the target on his best two chances in the the 29th and 32nd minutes, respectively.

After coming out of half time still scoreless Arsenal continued to pretty much much control the proceedings, but they didn't look really great doing it. Everton did finally get a foothold and create some chances though. Their best run came from about the 65th to 70th minutes with multiple chances from Tim Cahill, Phil Neville, and Marouane Fellaini. However, nothing went in the back of the net.

Arsenal Captain Robin Van Persie finally found the goal in the 70th minute. He took a great ball from Alex Song and tapped the prettiest volley you'll ever see into the far post.

In the end, the goal was all Arsenal would need to wrap up three points against Everton. It came on an appropriate day, as the club marked it's 125 anniversary during the pregame ceremonies.


Here's a Youtube link to the RVP goal

FA Charges Luis Suarez Over Hand Gesture

PHOTO: telegraph.co.uk

There's never a dull moment when you're Luis Suarez. The Liverpool striker is facing an FA charge for the above hand gesture made at Fulham fans during Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage.

I think he'll have a tough time denying it.

Suarez also has another FA charge pending against him. United's Patrice Evra has charged that Suarez racially abused him earlier in the season. Both Suarez and Liverpool deny that.

Liverpool is also being charged for failing to control their players in the same Fulham match. The Reds went ballistic after the referee sent off Jay Spearing with a straight red card in the second half.

Apparently Suarez was mad because Fulham fans were chanting "CHEAT" at him throughout the match as they he perceived that we was diving, which he does do once in awhile.

As we all know, Suarez would NEVER DREAM OF CHEATING:

UCL: FC Basel vs. Manchester United

Well what have we here? Earlier in the week Chelsea were taking all kinds of fire in the soccer world for the possibility of being eliminated from the Champions League before the knock out stage. I guess we all thought it was forgone conclusion that United would get through. Well, I guess Basel didn't get the memo, because they showed up BIG TIME.

To be fair, United started pretty well. They controlled the ball in the opening 5 or 6 minutes and looked to be chiseling away at the Basel defense. However, once Basel got possession, they did something with it.

All hell broke loose along the United back line in the 9th minute. Both Smalling and Vidic went up for the same cross in their 18 and collided. Smalling fell dazed, and Basel gathered the ball and sent it back in toward the six, which just seemed to baffle United. Captain Marco Streller hammered the ball past David De Gea, who still doesn't look comfortable, and into the net for the 1-0 lead.

It got worse for the Red Devils before the half as well. Captain Nemanja Vidic went into a challenge and twisted his knee. He went down and started waving his hands for medical attention immediately. Initial reports were not good, suggesting ligament damage that could sideline him for months.

Basel added an insurance goal in the second half. In the 84th minute, Alex Frei headed home a ball to the far post that seemed to assure the Swiss a victory with a 2-0 lead. However, United didn't give up, as Phil Jones knocked the ball barely over the line in the 89th minute to make it 2-1. However, United couldn't come up with any magic during stoppage time, and 2-1 was the full time result.

The loss puts United into the Europa League, which I'm sure they'll want no part of. It's Thursday fixtures are a drain for the league weekends. Credit to FC Basel, they showed up, while United played like they were in dreamland for most of the match.

Timbers Show Off New Thirds

Here ya go folks:



On Tuesday the Portland Timbers unveiled their new 3rd kits. A retro 70's look with a white theme. Not my thing, but I don't have to like it. If their fans are down with it, good job. John Spencer said it's the best kit they have, and he wants to wear it. Nice.

UCL: Olympiakos vs. Arsenal

PHOTO: FOXSOCCER.COM/GETTY IMAGES



There's not a lot to really say about this one. I try to make it a point to catch Olympiakos when I can, even if it's a replay of an older match, just because I don't ever get to see the Greek teams. Coming into this home match against Arsenal, they needed to win and hope Marseille didn't win in Germany in order to advance.

The task was quite different for the Gunners. They had already assured themselves a place in the next round, so they left most of their first team back in England. This meant that their reserves were going to get a shot at the Greek champs. However, it was Olympiakos that did most of the shooting.

The match was characterized by all around poor play by Arsenal at the back. Indeed, I'd say most of their wounds were self inflicted. In the 16th minute Rafik Djebbour took advantage of an Arsenal give away, then calmly ran around Lukasz Fabianski and tapped the shot in far post to make it 1-0 to the Greeks. Just six minutes later, Fabianski headed the ball right to Kevin Mirrallas, but the Olympiakos MF missed the target wide. Fabianski was injured in the next sequence and Arsenal brought in their 3rd string 'keeper, Vito Mannone. He played like a 3rd string 'keeper and Olympiakos tacked on a 2nd in the 36th minute to make it 2-0 at the half.

The second half proceeded in a bit of a disjointed manner, but Arsenal did manage a goal. In the 57th Yossi Benayoun sent a volley into the back of the Olympiakos net to make it 2-1. However the Greeks sealed the deal in the 89th as Francois Modesto tapped in a rebound after a corner to make 3-1 at full time. Unfortunately, Marseille beat Dortmund very late, which knocked the Greeks out of the CL knockout stage.

For Arsenal, ugly match. They have a lot to do at the back for their youngsters. Certainly the Greek champs taught them a lesson they won't soon forget.

UCL: Chelsea vs. Valencia

Now this makes me feel a lot better. All day at work I wondered about this match because I didn't have access to my cell phone and soccer score app. I knew Chelsea either needed a win or a scoreless draw to go through, and I just could not FATHOM the Blues not being in the knockout stage. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I saw the full time result.

PHOTO: FOXSOCCER.COM


That photo pretty much says it all. Didier Drogba was the MAN for AVB and Chelsea today. Anybody who thinks Drogba is washed up just needs to check out this match. His strength and will pretty much dominated.

Chelsea got off to cracking start in the opening minutes. In the second minute of the match, Raul Meirles sent in a screamer shot that Valencia 'keeper Diego Alves managed to corral. It was just foreshadowing though. A minute later Juan Mata dished a ball into the 18 for Drogba, who used a side step to beat the Valencia defender and knock a goal inside the far post to make it 1-0 to the Blues.

The Spaniards didn't roll over however. At that point, all they needed was a goal and they tried to grab it. Really the next 5-10 minutes were probably the best in the match for them. In the 5th minute they came close as Jordi Alba struck the post. Then in the 9th minute David Albelda sent a strike in on goal that forced Petr Cech to make a great save to keep it level.

Chelsea weren't done though, and in the 22nd minute they made their situation a lot more comfortable. Drogba was again involved, this time dishing the ball to Ramires, who went through a flabbergasted Valencia defense and scored to make it 2-0 to Chelsea.

The Blues strategy in the second half was to let Valencia have the ball and try to hit them on the counter. They did hit them as well. Daniel Sturridge continued to prove dangerous as he got off a couple of shots but couldn't find pay dirt. Finally in the 76th minute, Chelsea put it away. Juan Mata again hooked up with Drogba, who just managed to roll a shot past Alves and into the goal to make it 3-0 Chelsea.

Valencia never really threatened after that. They were pretty much worn out. The end of the match petered out in a foul fest with a lot of standing around, and Chelsea took the 3-0 win.

Gary Neville thought that this was Chelsea's best performance of the season. I don't know that I'd go that far, but it was certainly better than anything of late. A couple of areas concern me though. One, Daniel Sturridge has been on form and really aggressive, but there were a couple of instances in this one where he took a shot but really should have passed for a better scoring chance. Still, he's looking to score which is great. Hopefully he can put his head up just a little bit more. On the other hand, David Luiz turned in a good solid performance today, and John Terry was really in charge at the back. Hopefully the young Brazilian can keep playing more like he did in today's win.

With the win, Chelsea win group B. That's important, because they'll avoid the likes of Barca in the next round. Still, second place in that group is AC Milan, which is no picnic either.

EPL: Newcastle vs. Chelsea

To put it mildly, there was some, shall we say controversy in this match. Newcastle has been off to an amazing start this season, even taking a point off of Manchester United at Old Trafford last week. On the other hand, the Blues have been struggling under new head man Andre Villas Boas. Their Champions League hopes took a huge hit with a loss earlier in the week, and traveling to St. James Park stood to be a tall order in the league as well.

The big controversy came pretty much right away. In the 4th minute, David Luiz brought down Newcastle's Demba Ba just outside the 18. It was clearly a denial of a goal scoring opportunity, and should have been a red card. Yes, as a Chelsea supporter, I'll admit that it should have been red. However, the ref only gave Luiz a yellow, and The Blues kept all eleven men on the field.

More controversy came about in the 13th minute, this time at the other end of the pitch. Cabaye brought down Daniel Sturridge in the box, and Chelsea were awarded a PK. Lampard struck the spot kick, only to have it saved by Tim Krul. Replays showed that Krul came off his line by a good yard to make the save, but it was admittedly a poor penalty from Lamps.

Krul continued to perform miracles in net for Newcastle, especially when it came to Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge tested the 'keeper all day long, but Krul saved shot after shot. Finally in the 38th minute, his luck ran out as Didier Drogba headed in a gorgeous cross from Juan Mata to make it 0-1 to Chelsea at the break.

Newcastle piled the pressure on the Chelsea goal in the second half in search of the equalizer. Petr Cech was forched into saves from shots by both of the Ameobi brothers, and Demba Ba hit the crossbar on 55 minutes. Newcastle nearly leveled in the 74th minute, but Captain John Terry came to the rescue and cleared Sammy Ameobi's shot off the goal line at the last second.

Chelsea eventually put the game away rather late. Solomon Kalou took a pass from Fernando Torres in the 89th minute and slotted it past Krul to make it 0-2. Then, 2 minutes into stoppage time, Sturridge finally managed to beat Krul as he smashed in the last goal of the match to make the full time result 0-3.

Newcastle certainly has a right to feel hard done by. Luiz really should have been sent off, and Chelsea would have virtually had to play the whole match down a man. I don't know what Luiz's problem is, he's looked horrid lately. He's been reminding me of a Brazilian version of Tim Ream. He is going to cost the Blues points if he doesn't get his head in the game. However, sometimes the football gods smile on you, and sometimes they don't. Newcastle's PK against United last week that got them the point at Old Trafford was pure BS. So, some things go your way, some don't. Perhaps the worst thing for Newcastle is that they lost Ryan Taylor to injury for the rest of the season.

RSL Legend Andy Williams Retires

Today was a bittersweet day for us Real Salt Lake fans. Veteran midfielder Andy Williams, aka "bommadog" announced his retirement from MLS after 14 seasons. Williams was eligible for the re-entry draft, and chose to retire but stay with the RSL family. He'll be joining the technical staff as a scout.

Williams spent the last 7 seasons in Salt Lake. He was drafted with RSL's first pick in the 2004 expansion draft. He is the last of original RSL 2005 team. This last season he notched two goals, one assist, and logged 1970 minutes in 31 games.

Williams was also a big part of the Jamaican National Team "The Reggae Boyz." He was capped 92 times and played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He scored 13 international goals in his career.

Williams also won the US Open Cup as a member of the Chicago Fire in 2003.

Personally, I'm sad to see him hang up the boots, but I'm really glad he is going to continue to be a part of RSL.

Williams and Javy Morales

PHOTO: rsltothecore.com

Anelka and Alex Request Transfers From Chelsea

It looks like Chelsea will be doing some dealing in the transfer market come January. According to manager Andre Villas Boas, both Nicolas Anelka and Alex have formally requested a transfer from the EPL side, and the club is prepared to grant their requests.

Anelka has been generating buzz for awhile, but Ives Galarcep has a particularly interesting take on this in his latest Fox Soccer column. According to Galarcep, MLS Expansion side Montreal Impact are in talks with Anelka. They hope bringing in the Frenchman will help appeal to the French-Canadian population in Montreal, as well as give them a top name going into their first MLS season.

At any rate for Chelsea fans, it would free up a couple of spots for more moves in January.

Check out Galarcep's column HERE

You can follow Ives on twitter for some fantastic soccer reporting by following @SoccerbyIves.

Italian Match Thoughts: Genoa vs. AC Milan

This particular match up has a history of some bad behavior by fans and players alike. Unfortunately, that reared it's head again in this one, causing a delay in proceedings. Luckily we were treated to a couple of goals and another impressive performance from the defending champions.

Nocerino proved to be a thorn in the side of Genoa from the early going, breaking into their 18 a few times in the opening minutes. In the 12h minute, he had a shot that was just saved, and Genoa looked like they had no answers for the AC Milan midfielder.

About the 16th minute, a cloud descended over the match. Literally. At first it appeared that a smoke bomb had been set off in the stands. However, fans started to vacate the area and cover their faces. The cloud descended onto the pitch and several players had to cover their faces from what appeared to be tear gas. The ref stopped the game for about 10 minutes, until the air could be cleared and the players could be attended to.

Even after the restart, Genoa had a tough time getting things going. Their best chance of the first half came in the 34th minute. Miguel Veloso sent a free kick in at the AC Milan goal, only to have Marco Amelia tip it over the bar. The two teams went to the half time break still tied at 0-0.

Milan took control of the match in the second half. Kakha Kaladze picked up two yellows for Genoa within 7 minutes in the second half to get sent off. The second was a conceded PK in the 54th. Zlatan Ibrahimovic nailed home the PK to make it 0-1.

Genoa really couldn't muster much over the remainder of the match, especially being down to ten men. Nocerino reared his pesky head again in the 80th minute, knocking in a cross from Kevin Prince-Boateng to make 0-2, which was the full time result.

If I'm honest with you, it wasn't Milan's best performance. However, Genoa just appeared to be toothless in attack all night. In the end, the defending Serie A champs did enough to pick up a vital 3 points on the road, keeping up the pressure on Juventus.

Sunderland Appoint Martin O'Neill As New Manager

The wait to see who would follow Steve Bruce as manager at Sunderland wasn't long. Various outlets began reporting that Martin O'Neill was the favorite, and the club confirmed it today. The former Aston Villa manager signed a 3 year deal.

O'Neill will not manage the club Sunday at Wolves. He will officially take over on Monday.

O'Neill won the European Cup as a player, and has managerial experience with other clubs including Norwich and Celtic, as well as Villa.

Euro 2012 Group Stage Draw

Here are the results from UEFA's Euro 2012 Group Stage Draw held about one hour ago:


GROUP A:
Poland (host)
Greece
Czech Republic
Russia

GROUP B:
The Netherlands
Denmark
Germany
Portugal

GROUP C:
Spain
Italy
Republic of Ireland
Croatia

GROUP D:
Ukraine (host)
France
Sweden
England

So there you have it. Group B is clearly the group of death. England has a decent draw into group D. Russia will be THRILLED to be in group A.

Italian Match Thoughts: Lazio vs. Juventus

For some reason I've been on this kick for watching Juventus lately. It couldn't be because they're playing some of the best football in Italy, could it? Yes, it probably could.

This one was really fun to watch as well. The low scoreline is a bit deceptive. Both sides created quite a few quality chances. It really was an example of some of the best that Serie A has had to offer so far this season.

The first 20 minutes pretty much belonged to Juventus. Claudio Marchisio got things started with a bang in the 10th minute as just BARELY missed with a header over the Lazio crossbar. He really should have scored. Andrea Pirlo stood up to take the next chance on 13 minutes, but found his shot blocked. He tried again with an absolutely gorgeous free kick in the 16th, that was only kept out by an equally brilliant save from the Lazio 'keeper.

After weathering the opening storm from Juve, Lazio got their feet. In the 21st minute they were helped out by a Juve defensive blunder which Tommaso Rocchi turned into a shot that was neatly saved by Buffon. However, just seconds later, Cristian Ledesma sent in a wonder strike that looked bound for the back of the net but somehow crept wide.

Lazio's failure to convert some of their chances in the first half eventually came back to haunt them. In the 34th minute, Juve sparked a counter and Matri managed to find Pepe with a beautiful cross. Pepe promptly banged it into the back of the net to give Juve the 0-1 lead at the half.

The second half slowed just a little bit, but again both sides had chances. Lazio went on a great run of attack from about the 60th-70th minutes. It featured great chances from Hernanes, who hit the post, and Miroslav Klose, who forced a quality save from Buffon. However in the end, they couldn't convert and Juve held on to the 0-1 win.

Juventus takes the three points and continues their great top of the table run, Lazio played a great game however, and gave the Old Lady all they could handle. I expecy both of these teams to be in the mix for the Champions League spots, if not for the Scudetto itself. Great match.

Liverpool's Lucas Out For the Season

Some bad news came down the pipe today for Liverpool and it's supporters. Star midfielder and Brazilian International Lucas Leiva has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

Lucas picked up the injury during the second half of Liverpool's Carling Cup win over Chelsea. The Red's medical staff confirmed that he damaged his ACL in his left knee. The required surgery will put him out for the season.

This isn't good news for Liverpool as they are again without the services of Steven Gerrard, who continues to miss time with an ankle infection.

Steve Bruce Sacked at Sunderland

Steve Bruce's time as manager at the Stadium of Light is history. It's been a tough year for the Black Cats. Last weekend, they lost at home to Wigan, and that seemed to have been the last straw. Currently Sunderland sit only two points above the relegation zone.

Assistant Eric Black will be the interim manager while Sunderland looks for their next head man.

Bruce guided the Black Cats to finishes of 13th and 10th in his previous two seasons.

Columbus Cuts Loose Mendoza and Cunningham

Well, turns out that scoring 13 goals isn't more important than not being a douche bag on the pitch. Excuse my bluntness.

The Crew let DP Andres Mendoza go on Tuesday, as well as MLS All Time leading scorer Jeff Cunningham. Cunningham both tied and broke the career record for most goals this year, but didn't play a ton of minutes.

Mendoza is a different story. He spent most of his first full season making the team, the coaches, and the supporters mad. His attitude on the pitch always seemed like he couldn't care less. He also consistently put himself ahead of his teammates. He denied Cunningham a PK against RSL which would have tied the record, Luckily he got it anyway.

The Crew also jettisoned 5 more players, while making new offers to Robbie Rogers and Emmanuel Ekpo.

It will be interesting to see if anyone else in MLS gives Mendoza a shot.

RSL Deals Russell to DC United

There's a lot of wheeling and dealing going on in MLS right now, after the expansion draft. It'd be hard to comment on everything, nut I'll try to hit the highlights on the blog.

Real Salt Lake made a move in the market today, sending veteran defensive man Robbie Russell to DC United. Honestly, the move makes sense for all parties. For RSL, it clears the way for Tony Beltran to become a permanent starter. For DC United, Russell will provide a veteran influence for a young defense that let in a lot of goals in front of Bill Hamid. Russell will still get to play the minutes he wants without having to be subordinate to Beltran.

It's tough to see Robbie go, however. His PK against the Galaxy secured RSL's MLS Cup win in 2009. He was also steady and key during RSL's CONCACAF Champion's League run. Best of luck to Robbie in DC, and I hope it works out for the best for RSL as well.

Montreal Impact Expansion Draft List

I know I'm late to the party on this, but in case you missed it, here's who the Impact picked up in Wednesday's MLS expansion draft.

Jeb Brovsky--VAN
Bobby Burling--SJE
Brian Ching--HOU
Josh Gardner--CREW
Justin Mapp-PHI
Sanna Nyassi--RAPIDS
James Riley--SEA
Seth Sinovic--SKC
Zarek Valentin--CHV
Collen Warner--RSL

Brian Ching has said he will not play for Montreal, so I guess it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Expansion drafts for existing clubs are stupid anyway.

EPL: Arsenal vs. Fulham

All eyes were on Arsenal's Robin Van Persie coming into this match. It's perfectly understandable. Only Real Madrid's Ronaldo has scored more goals for club and country in the 2011 calendar year. However, it wasn't the prolific Arsenal captain that found the back of the net, but a center back, and he found the net for BOTH teams.

As is typical, Arsenal controlled much of the match. Fulham had never won at the Gunners, and it seemed like it would be a tough ask today as well. Andrey Arshavin got a look in the 11, after sitting out the Champion's League fixture midweek. He looked pretty good. Early on he took a pass from RVP and smacked it into the back of the net, but the flag was up and replay showed he was indeed offside.

Theo Walcott and Ramsey also had great chances for the Gunners. Ramsey in particular forced a great save out of Mark Schwarzer to keep the game level. Fulham had two solid chances in the first half, one from Bobby Zamora and the other from Mousa Dembele. However they couldn't beat Wojciech Szczesny and we went into the half time break at 0-0.

Business then picked up in the second half. Van Persie got his best look of the game early on, only to see his shot cleared off the Fulham goal by Chris Baird. Then in the 65th minute we had our first goal of the day. Thomas Vermaelen tried to play a bouncing ball in his own area, but ended up putting it past his own 'keeper to make it 0-1 to Fulham.

A few minutes later, Bobby Zamora knocked in another for Fulham. However, he was also flagged for offside, but just barely. It was a lot closer than Arshavin's called back effort.

Vermaelen redeemed himself and snatched a point for the Gunners in the 83rd minute. He got his head onto a Theo Walcott cross and directed it into the back of the net to make it 1-1. Arsenal put on a lot of pressure in the final 7 minutes, but Fulham held on to snatch a road point at the Emirates.

Football Mourns The Death Of Gary Speed

Some bad news cast a somber pallor over today's football matches. Former EPL veteran and current Wales manager Gary Speed was found dead at his home in Cheshire. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Some sites have been talking about the manner and circumstances around Speed's death. I'm not going to do that. The information is out there if you want it. All I'll say is that the police released a statement saying there were no suspicious circumstances around Speed's death, and that the family wished to have privacy at this time.

Speed was a Welsh football legend, winning 85 caps between 1990 and 2004. That's a record for outfield players for Wales. He was the captain of the team upon his retirement. His club career was remarkable as he scored in every EPL season until 2007. He played for Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton, and Sheffield United.

The death was announced shortly before today's EPL fixture between Swansea and Aston Villa. Swansea debated calling off the match, and Villa would not have objected. However, the match went ahead. A moment of silence eventually ended in of respectful chants of "There's only one Gary Speed." The two teams played to a 0-0 draw.

The Speed family have said that they will release a tribute at a later date. My thoughts and condolences to them at this difficult time.


RIP GARY SPEED 1969-2011
Photo: ryangiggs.cc

MLS Expansion Draft: RSL Protected List And General Thoughts

Today all Major Soccer Teams announced their protected list for Wednesday's expansion draft for the Montreal Impact. As an RSL fan, I'll post their list here and leave a link to all the lists.

RSL is protecting the following:

Kyle Beckerman--MF (C)
Tony Beltran--DF
Nat Borchers--DF
Fabian Espindola--F
Will Johnson--MF
Javier Morales--MF
Jamison Olave--DF
Nick Rimando--GK
Alvaro Saborio--F
Chris Wingert--DF
Chris Schuler--DF

No big shocks here. Schuler at first blush, maybe, but he played really well most of the year and is obviously part of the future on defense. If I were Montreal, I might look at Yordany Alvarez, Arturo Alvarez, Paulo Jr, Ned Grabavoy, or Collen Warner. Conventional wisdom is that players over about 30 or with hefty salaries have little chance of being picked. Luis Gil is a Generation Addidas player who has not played enough minutes to "graduate," so he does not need to be protected. Still, Garth Lagerwey fully expects to lose a player to the Impact on Wednesday.

As for other interesting unprotected names on other teams: Zarek Valentin is a big prospect unprotected by Chivas USA. Andres Mendoza in Columbus, but he's pricey. Houston's Brian Ching is unprotected, but older. LA left Chad Barrett unprotected. New York left all of their 'keepers unprotected, which is hilarious. Freddy Adu will be available from Philly. Omar Bravo is a pricey option from Sporting KC. Vancouver also makes both of their 'keepers available. So, a few intersting names out there. Supposedly, Portland has a deal with Montreal that none of their players will be picked.

There will be 10 rounds to the draft, and once a player is chosen, his team may not lose another player. We'll see what happens on Wednesday.

Here's a link to all of the teams complete lists via MLS

Puddle's MLS 2011 Wrap Up.

Last night the 2011 MLS season came to an end at the Home Depot Center with the Galaxy defeating the Houston Dynamo 1-0 to take the Cup. Not the greatest Cup final ever, but Don Garber said during half time that the season itself was the best in the league's history and I have to agree. Here's my take on various things in the 2011 campaign, and I'll try my hardest not to be an RSL homer.

Best Surprise Team--To me, this comes down to two teams from the east, Sporting KC and Toronto FC. Sporting overcame their monster road trip at the beginning of the year to make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, I'm going to go with TFC. This is a team that looked like they were just going to tank at the beginning of the year, even trading away the eventual MVP, Dwayne De Rosario. In the end, Aron Winter and TFC front office acquitted themselves well by totally changing up their roster and becoming a very competitive team toward the end of the season. They also won the Canadian Championship and made it to the CCL group phase for the first time, even though they ultimately missed out on a playoff spot. I see that finally changing next year for TFC.

Most Disappointing Team--This absolutely has to be the New York Red Bulls. With all the money they've spent, they barely scraped into the playoffs ahead of an expansion team. The obtained DeRo from TFC, only to trade him later in the year to make room for a DP GK--Frank Rost. Now it's believed Rost might not be back. One of their other DPs, Rafa Marquez, imploded toward the end of the season, and the Red Bulls actually had a better record without him in the line up. Tim Ream continued to stink, and the GK situation never did get settled. The only positive in the season was Thierry Henry, who finally came into his own in the league.

GK of the Year--MLS gave this award to Kasey Keller, which is asinine to me. No way did he have the best season in MLS. It was basically a life time achievement award. While Keller is a good sentimental choice and a US Soccer legend, I'm going to go with.....Josh Saunders of the LA Galaxy. I'll give an honorable mention to RSL homeboy Nick Rimando, but again, I'm trying not to be a homer. Nicky had one of the best years in MLS, but Saunders really stepped up for LA down the stretch, turning in some unreal performances late in the season both in the league and CCL. He then proceeded to guide them to the trophy, putting up a clean sheet in the final. Supporter's Shield and the MLS Cup. Trophies do matter.

Player of the Year--DeRo got the MVP, but I can't go along with that. Yes, his individual season does warrant it, but he played for three different teams, two of which failed to make the playoffs. Yes, he had an MVP TYPE year but not the Player of the Year. This goes to Brek Shea of FC Dallas to me. My friend and I have said every time we watched FC Dallas, if you want the goals, go through Brek Shea. Dallas could have totally fallen apart after the injury to Ferriera, but Shea steadied the ship, stepped up, and guided them into the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Dallas fans, the grind of the league and CCL was too much for them and led to an opening round playoff exit.

Well, that's my take. It certainly was a great season in MLS, though as an RSL fan, I would have loved to see it end differently. However, only one team is going to hoist the Cup, and the Galaxy certainly deserve it. Now, onto the expansion draft and into a new season!

Congrats to the LA Galaxy, 2011 MLS Cup Champs.

So tonight was the 2011 MLS Cup Final. The LA Galaxy squared off against the underdog Houston Dynamo at the Home Depot Center. Unfortunately for Houston, they were without their MLS MVP candidate and MLS leading assist man Brad Davis. It showed on the pitch.

The Dynamo never really got anything going all night. The 1st half in particular belonged to the Galaxy. They got a few really good looks in the first half, most of which falling to the feet of Cristman. Unfortunately, he couldn't net even one and the first half ended as a snooze fest, 0-0.

Things did pick up a little in the second half, and Houston got some time in possession, but really couldn't fashion any solid tests for Josh Saunders. Fairly early on in the proceedings, Robbie Keane put the ball in the back of the net, but was ruled offside. The ESPN announcers, very pro-Galaxy (and pro-Beckham) in my opinion, really bemoaned this, but it looked like a good call in a tight circumstance to me.

It ended up not mattering though. In the 72nd minute Landon Donovan poked a shot past Tally Hall into the far post netting to give the Galaxy the 1-0 lead. A Houston defender nearly got there to clear the ball off the line but it was to no avail. The Dynamo never seriously threatened in the last 18 minutes and the Galaxy held on to win 1-0.

Now I'm not going to say the Galaxy didn't deserve the win. They were the better team tonight for sure and the best team in MLS over the course of the season. I'm also not sure having Davis would have made that much of a difference, the Dynamo just weren't in the same class.

So ends to the 2011 MLS campaign, in rather anticlimactic fashion. However, I'm sure the league will be happy with the end result.

EPL: Norwich vs. Arsenal

Actually, a better title for this post might have been "Norwich vs. Robin Van Persie. He seems to be the only gunner capable of finding the back of the net, but as far as they're concerned, at least somebody is I guess.

Arsenal came out absolutely on fire. They set up Van Persie in the area within the first minute, but he inexplicably hit his shot wide. It wouldn't be the only close call of the first half for Norwich though. Defender Russell Martin cleared not one, not two, but three balls off of his own goal line in the first 25 minutes.

However Norwich managed to take the lead in that first 25 minutes. How, you ask? Well of course through a characteristic Arsenal defensive blunder. In the 16th minute, Per Mertesacker failed to get to a ball into the area. In all fairness, it looked like the big German was just asleep. Norwich's Steve Morison jumped on it and put the shot into the net to make it 1-0 to the home side.

Arsenal's offense didn't skip much of a beat though. Robin Van Persie made sure of that. In the 26th minute, Theo Walcott found the captain in the six. Van Persie equalized with an easy tap in and we went to the half tied at 1-1.

The second half was mostly Arsenal, though both sides were a little sloppy. Arsenal seemed to just be comfortable and it was like they thought they could score anytime they wanted. That contributed to the sloppiness and choppiness of play. Norwich had their chances as well, but it was Robin Van Persie who put it way for Arsenal. A little past the hour, he chipped in over the Norwich keeper to make it 1-2 to the Gunners. They held on to win by that score.

All in all it was a less than convincing performance for Arsenal, especially on the defensive side of things. However, once again Norwich played hard but just didn't have the tools to deal with Van Persie or the weapons to create a ton of chances. Good match though.

Reports Say Revs To Name New Manager

There hasn't been a ton of soccer news during the international break, but we did get some potential news today out of MLS.

The Boston Globe is reporting that the New England Revolution are set to name their new manager. According to the paper, former Revs defender Jay Heaps as their new boss sometime this week.

Heaps made a record 294 appearances for New England, and won the 1999 MLS Rookie of the Year Award. He also was capped by the USMNT four times. In recent years, Heaps has provided color commentary on the Revs TV broadcasts.

According to the Globe, Heaps will be announced on Tuesday and introduced at a press conference on Wednesday.

Congrats to C.J. Sapong, MLS Rookie of the Year

Congratulations are in order to C.J. Sapong of Sporting Kansas City. Today Sapong was named MLS Rookie of the Year. This wasn't really a surprise to anyone, Sapong is by far the most deserving candidate, and he had a great year.

As it happens, the voting wasn't even close. According to MLSsoccer.com, Sapong won 34 percent of the club votes, 42 percent of the media vote, and 30 percent of the player votes. He played in all 34 games for SKC and started 22. He scored 5 goals and dished out 5 assists, which put hime ahead of all the other rookies on points. He also scored a goal in the playoffs versus the Colorado Rapids.

The two other high profile candidates were Perry Kitchen and Darlington Nagbe. Sporting Kansas City lost the Eastern Conference Final to the Houston Dynamo.

EPL: Fulham vs. Tottenham Hotspur

This is one of those matches that the score line just doesn't do justice. Initially, I had my doubts about getting up early to catch it, but I'm glad I did.

Fulham got off to a bright start, getting a lot of possession and controlling the flow of the match. However the best chances and the only two goals of the first half belonged to Spurs. In the 10th minute Mark Schwarzer pushed an Aaron Lennon pass away to the side, but Gareth Bale sliced it back toward the goal where it deflected into the net off of a Fulham defender. The goal was credited to Bale.

Spurs struck again in first half stoppage time, with Aaron Lennon again involved. This time he slashed his own way into the penalty area and slotted home the second goal to give Spurs the 0-2 lead at half time.

The second half was pretty much all Fulham, and was great fun to watch. They poured chance after chance and shot after shot in at the Spurs defense and Brad Friedel. Their first break of the match came in the 57th minute when during a scrum off of a corner kick Ledley King headed the ball off the back of Younes Kaboul and into the Spurs net, that made it 1-2.

The own goal just energized Fulham even more, as Friedel was forced to make save after save into the match's final minutes. At one point, Clint Dempsey worked his way around Friedel and put the ball in for what looked like a sure equalizer, only to have it cleared at the last second by King.

In second half stoppage time Fulham ended up feeling very hard done by. In yet another scrum in front of the Spurs goal, Kyle Walker clearly handled the ball and Fulham should have had a penalty kick to try and equalize, but it wasn't given. In the end, substitue Jermaine Defoe broke loose toward Schwarzer's goal and slotted home the Spurs' 3rd on virtually the last kick of the game. The full time result was 1-3 to Tottenham.

The result puts Spurs just out of the Champion's League spots on goal difference.

Colorado Rapids "Part Ways" With Gary Smith

Well, talk about high expectations. This afternoon the Colorado Rapids announced that they would not be renewing the contract of head coach Gary Smith. Why, you ask? Well, I guess that might be a tough answer.

The best answer the Rapids front office is giving out is the whole "we need to go in a different direction" line. It's hard to see what different direction the Rapids front office wants them to go in. Last year, they won the MLS Cup. This year was a bit more rocky. They finished 12-9-13, which put them 5th place in the West and into the playoffs, where they beat the Columbus Crew and fell to Sporting Kansas City. The Rapids were eliminated in the group stage of CONCACAF Champions League, but aftyer falling flat early in that tournament, they played better toward the end. Plus, they dealt with injuries all season long, including a season ending injury to forward Conor Casey in July. Not the season they wanted, but a lot better than many other MLS teams, and certainly something to build on.

I'm not an expert on the Rapids, but I don't think Smith was the problem. When I did catch the Rapids it seemed like they were giving up a lot of goals, which seemed to get better as the season progressed. Then they had a hard time scoring goals, but I think a lot of that was due to their injury weakened front line. Both of these were certainly within Smith's abilities to deal with.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Smith and the Rapids vacant coach position.

LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo Advance to MLS Cup Final

Well, my predictions for the conference finals SUCKED. So I picked my home club, and I thought Sporting KC would actually show up. Sue me.

Ok, so yes, Sporting DID show up. They attacked and put some pressure on the Dynamo. However when it came to actually getting scoring chances, they didn't have much going for them. Meanwhile Brian Ching continued to drive the Dynamo. Houston jumped to the lead with a 53rd minute set piece goal from Andre Hainault, and iced it in the 87th off the foot of Carlo Costly. The closest KC got was a PK appeal in the 77th minute, which was denied. Despite the huge crowd behind them, KC couldn't really threaten Houston. I guess your fancy new stadium isn't a sure win after all. Funny how that works.

In the Western final, the LA Galaxy just proved too much for RSL. To their credit, both teams slugged it out all night. I hate to use analogies from other sports for soccer, but this was clearly like two heavyweights hitting it out toe to toe right to the end. The teams traded first half goals, first LA got a PK from Landycakes, then Saborio scored on a set piece for RSL.

The sides came out of half time at 1-1, but LA took their chances where RSL didn't. The Galaxy got goals from Magee and Keane to seal it up, though RSL was fighting and creating chances right to the end. LA got the job done, period. I said before the match that these really were the two best teams in MLS, and they proved it tonight. Great match.

Mexico Match Thoughts: CD Guadalajara vs. Pachuca

Now this was the kind of match you'd expect from the Primera Division. Chances on both sides, goals, red cards, you name it. Chivas controlled most of the match, but in the end, Pachuca snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat, barely.

After a lot of back and forth play, Chivas finally opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Miguel Ponce sent a low pass along the ground centering into the six. Marco Fabian slid into the six and toe poked it past the 'keeper to give the Goats the 1-0 lead. It was a solid play and enough to give Chivas the half time advantage.

After a pretty tame first half, all hell broke loose in the second half. In the 49th minute, Chivas 'keeper Luis Michel smacked Pachuca defender Javier Mustafa with the ball. Mustafa then kicked Michel in the groin. Both players were shown the red card and a penalty was awarded to Pachuca for the original foul on Mustafa. Chivas back up 'keeper Victor Hernandez came in but couldn't stop Enrique Esqueda's PK, and the match was even at 1-1.

This didn't stop Chivas from keeping up the attack though. It only took them eleven minutes to retake the lead. Jesus Sanchez sent a ball in that Erick Torres knocked home to give Chivas the 2-1 lead.

As we went into stoppage time, it looked like the lead would hold up and the Torres goal would be the winner. Pachuca had other ideas though. Their salvation came again in the form of Esqueda, who escaped the Goat defense and smashed the equalizer into the upper 90. Chivas couldn't threaten in the last minute or so, and the full time result was 2-2.

The result might prove costly for Chivas, especially in light of Cruz Azul's win earlier. When you stop and consider that a good portion of it was directly due to their lack of discipline, it makes it even worse.

Shea To Train With Arsenal In the MLS Offseason

Some fairly big news out of the FC Dallas camp yesterday for fans of MLS and the US National Team. The club confirmed that midfielder Brek Shea will spend some time this winter in England training with Arsenal.


The move came after USMNT coach Juergen Klinsmann suggested that some of the national team players spend time overseas to be in better shape come January camp time. Kilnsmann has also said that he thinks the MLS season should be longer.

Shea recently resigned with FC Dallas/MLS through 2015, though he has attracted attention in Europe. FC Dallas has said this is only for training purposes.

Major League Soccer Sets It's Final Four

After a less than barn burning round of 2nd leg fixtures, MLS now has it's final four teams that will square off in the conference finals.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: SPORTING KC vs. HOUSTON DYNAMO
Game Time: Sunday, November 6, at 5:30 PM Eastern from Livestrong Sporting Park.

Kansas City put another 2-0 result on the defending champion Colorado Rapids last night to earn their birth. To be fair to the Rapids, they were missing probably 8 of their preferred starters to injuries and suspension, but KC did the job, as Colorado never seriously threatened the lead in KC.

Tonight, Houston totally shut down the Philadelphia Union. They got a 45th minute goal from Brian Ching to cement the result after a 1-2 win at PPL Park earlier this week. The Union looked like they were just happy to be in the playoffs.

I have to tip KC at home in this one, though Houston is a veteran club that has been playing well. I'll call it 2-1, with KC advancing to MLS Cup.


WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: LA GALAXY vs REAL SALT LAKE
Game Time: Sunday, November 6 at 9:00 PM ET from the Home Depot Center.

After drilling Seattle 3-0 last Saturday at Rio Tinto, RSL just managed to hold on against the Sounders at the CLink, conceding 2 second half goals but holding on to win the aggregate 3-2. It's a little deceptive, as the first Seattle goal via PK was total Horse Shit, but whatever.

LA defeated a lackluster NY Red Bulls side tonight. The New Yorkers jumped to a lead in the 4th minute via Luke Rodgers, but from then on it was mostly LA. Magee scored a Beckham corner kick in the first half, and then Donovan iced it with a PK in the second, making the final 3-1 to LA on aggregate.

RSL and LA have been on this collision course all year. I truly believe they are the best two squads in MLS, with Seattle being right there as well. It's going to be a battle, but I'll take RSL 1-2 over the Galaxy.

Now we just wait and see!

Victory Blog: Two Victory Players To Go On International Duty

The next FIFA International break will be upon us in a couple of weeks, and managers around the world are starting to announce their squads. As per Victory Blog: Melbourne Victory supporters will see two players called up.

Carlos Hernandez will head to Costa Rica for two friendlies. Harry Kewell will join Australia for two World Cup Qualifiers.

The Victory picked up their first win of the new season last weekend, beating Wellington Phoenix 2-1.

For more info, see Victory Blog's post HERE

New York Red Bulls and Colorado Rapids Advance in MLS Playoffs.

So last night New York Red Bulls took down FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park to become the first team to advance out of the wildcard games. They subbed in Mehdi Ballouchy in the scoen half, and he immediately made an impact, getting the ball to Joel Lindpere who slotted home the eventual game winning goal. Thierry Henry score his first career MLS Cup playoff goal deep into stoppage time to make the full time result 0-2.

Tonight the Colorado Rapids went into the Eastern Conference with a home win over the Columbus Crew at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Omar Cummings scored the game's only goal right before half time. They built on a nice effort from Brian Mullan and Sanna Nyassi, and also managed to keep Mendoza quiet and ineffective for the Crew.

So the MLS season is now over for Columbus and FC Dallas. New York Red Bulls will host the LA Galaxy in the first of a two legged series this weekend. The Rapids will host Sporting KC in the first leg of that semi final as well.

Congrats to both clubs that managed to keep their seasons alive for at least a couple more games.

Stevie Nicol Out As Manager of New England Revolution

Major League Soccer's New England Revolution announced today that they are parting with long time head coach Stevie Nicol. It is being described as a mutual agreement to part ways.

Despite a very successful career with the Revs, including 4 MLS Cup Final appearances, a US Open Cup, and a Super Liga title, Nicol has seen the team flounder the last couple of years as manager. The Revs had not made the MLS playoffs since 2009. This season they finished dead last in the Eastern Conference and tied the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps with only 28 points for the lowest total. They also won one fewer match.

That's a tough job up there in New England, and Stevie had held it for ten years. That's a record tenure as an MLS manager. His career record in MLS is 112-108-81. The 112 wins puts him fourth on the MLS all time list.

Best of luck to Mr. Nicol in the future. He's a quality manager.

Mario Balotelli's "Why Always Me" T-Shirt vs. Manchester United

Photo Credit: epltalk.com (View the original here)



Mario Balotelli sporting his "Why Always Me?" shirt after putting City up 1-0 over United in the 22nd minute of Sunday's Manchester Derby. Balotelli was given a yellow card on the play for pulling his jersey over his head. No humor allowed in soccer.

At least it didn't say "John 3:16"

EPL: Queens Park Rangers vs. Chelsea

This match just drove me nuts as a Chelsea fan. A stupid penalty, two idiotic red cards, and a whole bunch of yellows. Oh, and a loss on a day where we could have picked up points and moved to second.

While the sides were even on men, Chelsea were definitely the better side. They were zeroing in on the goal, meanwhile QPR was hardly seeing anything of the ball.

However the house started to come down at Loftus Road in the 8th minute. David Luiz pushed Heidar Helguson in the box, with his back to the goal. In a somewhat delayed reaction, the QPR man fell on the floor and the ref awarded a PK, which Helguson himself barely managed to get out of reach of Petr Cech to make it 1-0 to QPR. Yes, Luiz gave him a little shove. Certainly not enough to knock him over. If it was, he's a wimp. Not to mention seconds before he was pushing on Luiz. A soft penalty if there ever was such a thing.

It would be the game's only goal.

Chelsea made their situation steadily worse. In the 32nd minute Bosingwa brought down Shaun Wright-Phillips. He was judged to be the last man. Bosingwa saw red and was sent off. Personally, I thought John Terry was also in the play, but the ref disagreed.

Then Didier Drogba got himself sent off a few minutes before half time with a stupid two footed tackle. Not blaming the ref for this one at all, just a dumb move by Drogba.

Chelsea played the entire second half down to NINE men. Despite this, they had the best chances and were still clearly the better side. Anelka had a couple of really good looks and both Lampard and Luiz had penalty appeals turned down, each of which I thought were at least as legit as the softer than soft one QPR got.

QPR went on to win 1-0. I'm not going to blame the ref. He doesn't kick the ball, and Chelsea had plenty of chances. Still, Foy was obviously card happy and seemed bound and determined to play a lead role in today's match. Unfortunately in the end it was the lack of discipline that undid the Blues.

EPL: Manchester United vs. Manchester City

Well, if you've ever wanted to see United totally get their butts kicked at Old Trafford, then I hope you caught this derby today. Personally, I pretty much never pull for either of these sides, but as the match wore on, I kept pulling for City to keep pouring it on and give United a bit of their own medicine.

Things didn't start out bad for the Red Devils though. In fact they controlled the possession for a good bit of the opening half. What they weren't doing though is creating any chances. Joe Hart wasn't quite able to pull out a deck chair, as the action was in his half, but United seemed to be having trouble breaking down City's defenses. The only half chance they got came in the 17th minute, but Ashley Young saw his shot blocked.

Then City climbed into the match. Actually I'd say they put everybody on notice. In the 22nd minute James Milner sent a cross into Mario Balotelli. The somewhat troubled Italian striker slotted it past David De Gea cool as you like in the bottom corner to give City the 1-0 lead. Balotelli promptly pulled up his shirt to reveal a T Shirt that read "Why Always Me?" It was hilarious. The referee didn't fins it funny though and gave Balotelli a yellow card.

Now it was time to see if the strike would wake up the Red Devils. It didn't really. They tried, a little. Both Anderson and Rooney forced saves out of Joe Hart before half time, but neither of them were particularly difficult, at City lead 1-0 at the break.

Whatever Sir Alex said to his club during the interval was tossed out the window almost immediately in the second half. In the 47th minute Johnny Evans hauled down Mario Balotelli around the penalty arc denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. He received the red card and put United down a goal and a man. Thirteen minutes later Balotelli completed his brace, flicking home yet another beautiful ball from Milner to make it 0-2. Then in the 69th Sergio Aguero got his first derby goal off another cross to make it 0-3, and that looked to be all she wrote,

Well, not so fast. United did manage a goal here. Darren Fletcher managed to beat Joe Hart in the 81st minute to make it 1-3. Chicharito checked in and the United crowd came to life, hoping for another historic comeback.

Well it wasn't to be today. In fact, after the Fletcher goal, United fell completely apart. City would pour on not 1, not 2, but three goals in the remaining minutes. Dzeko scored 2 after subbing in and David Silva added one to make the final tally 1-6 in favor of City.

How historic was this? Well, It was the worst home loss for United in 80 years. It was their worst loss in the Premier League era, and was the worst loss ever for Sir Alex either as a player or manager.

Noisy Neighbors indeed.

A League Action: Adelaide United vs Sydney FC

Coming into this one at Hindmarsh Sydney FC had yet to score a goal on the new A League campaign. I guess you'd have to forgive Adelaide if they thought they were going to have it easy in front of a great crowd at their home ground. However, it didn't quite turn out that way.

Sydney was really the better side from the opening whistle. You could tell by the the crisp way they moved the ball that they were coming out in a positive frame of mind and were determined to give the Reds all they could handle. Brett Emerton seemed to be playing a more important role and was settling in a bit, which should please Sydney fans. He forced a save from Galekovic in the 8th minute, and Bruno Cazarine hit the post in the 13th, preventing Sydney from taking a deserved lead.

Then in the 29th minute, a defensive blunder cost Sydney dearly. During some scrambling in the Sydney penalty area, defender Michael Beauchamp tried to chest the ball down so he could clear it from in front of his own net. However, his touch was poor and the ball bounced off him right to the waiting personage of Dario Vidosic who emphatically slammed it into the net giving Adelaide a 1-0 lead.

Sydney had two more nice chances before the half. Terry Antonis forced Galekovic into a point blank savw in the 36th minute, and then in the 43rd Nick Carle watched his strike hit the crossbar. Antonis got the rebound for a followup shot but once again Galekovic stoned him, preserving the 1-0 Adelaide lead at half time.

The second half was pretty much all Syndey. Adelaide seemed to really go into some kind of funk, even in front of their own fans. In the 60th minute Jamie Coyne lashed a golazo into the roof of the Adelaide net to tie the match at 1-1. As good as Galekovic had been in goal, he had no shot at it.

In the 82nd minute Nick Carle got the goal that gave Syndey the three points that they richly deserved. Driving into the Adelaide area, the Syndey midfielder slotted a shot through the legs of Galekovic to make it 1-2 to Sydney. Adelaide never really threatened in the closing minutes, and that was our final score.

Sydney really put it all together in this one. They did have a scare in the second half as Emerton pulled up lame and subbed out, but the bench said it was just a severe case of cramps.

Match Thoughts: Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers

I'm not going to pretend that I didn't have a good time last night, it would have been perfect except for that last minute Portland equalizer. Before I get to the match, I just want to say how awesome it was having Timbers Army in the house at the RioT. That might sound weird coming from an RSL fan, but the way those guys party is the class of the league. More people in our section spent more time bitching about how the Timbers fans were obnoxious than they did watching the match, which is horribly lame. Those are football fans, people. The atmosphere in our section at Rio Tinto is more like that of a golf tournament. We did have some Timbers fans sitting next to us that were guests of some of the other season ticket holders in our section. I tried to join in the Tetris dance/chant, but failed.

As for the match itself, for the most part it was the Real Salt Lake that most of us have been hoping to see again for weeks, particularly in the first half. We controlled the ball and created quite a few chances. You can't underestimate how important having Javi Morales back in the midfield is. He directly orchestrated more than a few of the chances.

RSL took the lead right before half time in cheeky style. Fabian Espindola, who played like a beast all night, sent in a gorgeous long ball that found Alvaro Saborio slipping in behind a ball watching Portland defense. He lobbed the ball over Troy Perkins and into the net to give RSL the lead at the half, 1-0.

Portland came out and got in RSL's face a little in the second haalf, and I think it threw us off a bit. Nick Rimando had to knock a way a distance shot from Eric Alexander as soon as the 47th minute.

Then it looked like Portland was sure to equalize in the 55th minute as Wingert conceded a PK for a handball in the box. Many people in our section were upset about it. It was a handball, not intentional, but a handball. I've seen PKs given for less, and I think it was justified, then again, I try not to be too much of a homer. Portland captain Jack Jewsbury stepped up, but knocked the spot kick off the crossbar and into the crowd. Oops.

Potland did find their equalizer in the 90th minute though. RSL really had their only lapse at the back all evening, and Portland took advantage on the break. Brian Umony sent a ball into a pretty much unoccupied RSL 18 and Futty Danso headed it in. Too many people forward for RSL. They should have just controlled the ball at the end and not pushed as much. Instead, they gave Portland the one chance they needed and the Timbers took it. The match finished at 1-1.

RSL will be the third seed in the West following FC Dallas' loss at San Jose later Saturday night. They will begin a 2 legged series against the Seattle Sounders next Saturday night at Rio Tinto. Portland was eliminated from the playoffs prior to the match.

On Why MLS Fans Should Also Be A League Fans.

I don't write much pure opinion on this blog, but for this, I'm going to give it a shot. There are parallels and potential connections between Major League Soccer and the Hyundai A League, and I'm very passionate about both. I'm not very familiar with Australia, it's culture, and the wonderful people who live there, but I am very familiar with the American sports fans and the American footy fan, and that's why I'm going to advocate MLS fans giving the A League a shot.

1. For MLS fans, looking at the A League is like looking back at the not so distant past of MLS.
Right now the Hyundai A League is beginning it's 7th season of play. MLS is finishing it's 15th season. Sure, right now MLS has been having a bit of a boom, with new teams coming in and new TV contracts. If we think back just a few years though, we see that MLS had some clubs going through some rough patches and the league was having a hard time drawing fans.

I think the A League is a bit ahead of that pace. At the end of last season, they unfortunately lost the North Queensland Fury. However they've also added the Melbourne Heart (now in their second season), creating a great derby between the two Melbourne clubs. The crowds at the stadiums and the buzz around the clubs in increasing as well, which will help generate the revenue the Clubs need to keep at it and keep growing.


2. The similar standard of play.
Sure, the A League isn't the EPL. Well, neither is MLS by any stretch. Both of these leagues are still growing in this regard. While MLS seems to be a bit more physical than the A League, sometimes I see a bit more of a technical game in the A League. One thing is for sure, I rarely finish watching an A League match and think I've wasted my time as a football fan. I'm certainly not an expert, but as a hardcore footy fan, I enjoy watching the A League, and I think other MLS fans would as well.


3. Connections between the two leagues could open more markets for players from both countries.
While both the USA (Dempsey) and Australia (Tim Cahill) have high profile players in the European leagues, I think having a relationship between MLS and the A League could give players from both countries chances to diversify their games and get exposure in different markets. I'd love to see players going back and forth in future. Heck, Fred already has. I highly doubt most MLS fans know that Fred was a playmaker for the Victory before coming to MLS. Where did he go after leaving DC United? He went back to Melbourne to be the Captain for the Heart.

So, in the end, I know this isn't riveting analysis. However, as an MLS fan, I enjoy the A League and I'd like to spread the word to other American footy fans. Now if I could just get World Soccer Shop to carry the Victory kit and scarf........