The Soccer Thread

[Guest]

I'm with Hobbes on the color of the stripes. Navy stripes would be better than those red ones.

[wolf stansson]

if it was a betting man, i'd put a wager on ronaldo moving to spain this summer.

 

p.s. he's on playing an entire other level than anyone in the prem. if he stays this good, man utd will make a deep run in the champions league.

 

I can't see him moving yet. He's recently signed a lengthy extension, he's said he likes and wants to stay at Utd, and Real Madrid have said they can't get him. Granted all of that doesn't mean much. The real issue is that the transfer fee would be astronomical. Well, that and there is no reason that Manchester United would want to sell him. They don't sell young stars, they buy them.

 

There's a history of Premier League players not doing well in the European and World player of the year awards, but if United go deep in the Champions League this year he has to be at the ceremonies again this year. He tends to be heavily marked against the elite teams and doesn't produce as much, though. If he can do what Kaka did last year in the semis and final of the CL, it's his to lose.

 

This is his free kick goal today, absolutely ridiculous.

 

Haven't seen many better

 

Dude has had some absolutely RIDICULOUS free kicks this year.

 

I agree with you on the transfer fee. If somebody does buy him, it's going to be for an insane amount of money.

 

And thanks for mentioning this goal because it reminded me to watch Fox Soccer Report tonight.

Don't underestimate that selling Ronaldo would take a huge chunk out of the Glazer's debt. They still have massive debt despite huge revenues. The way Anderson, Rooney, Nani and Tevez have played, a Ronaldoless team could still contend.

 

But yes, he is the best player in the world and will probably be in the Beckenbauer, Best, Zidane and Maradona grouping.

[USSoccer]

Don't underestimate that selling Ronaldo would take a huge chunk out of the Glazer's debt. They still have massive debt despite huge revenues. The way Anderson, Rooney, Nani and Tevez have played, a Ronaldoless team could still contend.

 

But yes, he is the best player in the world and will probably be in the Beckenbauer, Best, Zidane and Maradona grouping.

 

I think if you take Ronaldo off of Man U, you have Liverpool or Everton. A top 5 Prem team, but not a championship contender. He's carried that team. Carried them. He makes Anderson and Nani look better than they are (I'm not impressed with either). He frees up space for Rooney and Tevez, neither of whom are brilliant, Thierry Henry circa 2003-4 strikers (Rooney is better than Tevez).

 

Selling Ronaldo now would be stupid. Selling him just before the 2010 Cup, when he's a little older and his pace will probably have lessened just slightly, would be smarter.

[wolf stansson]

http://www.soccerbyives.net/

Bob Bradley picks 22-man roster for Mexico friendly

 

Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore are among the 22 players Bob Bradley has called in for Wednesday night's friendly against Mexico in Houston.

 

Here is the roster:

 

GOALKEEPERS : Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

 

DEFENDERS : Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo)

 

MIDFIELDERS : Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)

 

FORWARDS : Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pat Noonan (Aalesund FK)

 

Not too shabby! I think Jozy and Freddy have a good chance to play major minutes. I'd like to see Stevie C and I think we'll miss Beasley. I'm sure we'll see some combo of Bradley and either Clark or Edu starting, but I'd love to see a more offensive lineup. Hopefully Bradley gets forward more as well.

 

---------Adu------Altidore-----Dempsey------------

----------Edu-------Bradley----Donovan------------

--Bocanegra---Parkhurst---Onyewu---Pearce--

---------------------Howard-----------------------

[wolf stansson]

Don't underestimate that selling Ronaldo would take a huge chunk out of the Glazer's debt. They still have massive debt despite huge revenues. The way Anderson, Rooney, Nani and Tevez have played, a Ronaldoless team could still contend.

 

But yes, he is the best player in the world and will probably be in the Beckenbauer, Best, Zidane and Maradona grouping.

 

I think if you take Ronaldo off of Man U, you have Liverpool or Everton. A top 5 Prem team, but not a championship contender. He's carried that team. Carried them. He makes Anderson and Nani look better than they are (I'm not impressed with either). He frees up space for Rooney and Tevez, neither of whom are brilliant, Thierry Henry circa 2003-4 strikers (Rooney is better than Tevez).

 

Selling Ronaldo now would be stupid. Selling him just before the 2010 Cup, when he's a little older and his pace will probably have lessened just slightly, would be smarter.

Oh I agree, but if Madrid comes with 70-80 million pounds on the table, it would be a tempting move from a business stand point. That's more than an 75 million pound profit. That's nothing to sneeze at.

PS, Michael Bradley got his 12th league goal today.

[sethuel1]

http://www.soccerbyives.net/

Bob Bradley picks 22-man roster for Mexico friendly

 

Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore are among the 22 players Bob Bradley has called in for Wednesday night's friendly against Mexico in Houston.

 

Here is the roster:

 

GOALKEEPERS : Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

 

DEFENDERS : Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Ramiro Corrales (SK Brann), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo)

 

MIDFIELDERS : Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)

 

FORWARDS : Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pat Noonan (Aalesund FK)

 

Not too shabby! I think Jozy and Freddy have a good chance to play major minutes. I'd like to see Stevie C and I think we'll miss Beasley. I'm sure we'll see some combo of Bradley and either Clark or Edu starting, but I'd love to see a more offensive lineup. Hopefully Bradley gets forward more as well.

 

---------Adu------Altidore-----Dempsey------------

----------Edu-------Bradley----Donovan------------

--Bocanegra---Parkhurst---Onyewu---Pearce--

---------------------Howard-----------------------

Stevie C is injured.

 

Let's pound Mexico

[wolf stansson]

Yeah I just saw that. Bummer.

[USSoccer]

That's a pretty good roster to assemble. Here's hoping we go out and pummel Mexico.

 

Seth, where are you watching the game?

[sethuel1]

That's a pretty good roster to assemble. Here's hoping we go out and pummel Mexico.

 

Seth, where are you watching the game?

probably at home on my DVR. I've got an exam on Thursday so I may not watch it live.

[USSoccer]

Guzan still can't get a work permit. He's probably going to be languishing in MLS another year.

[wolf stansson]

Guzan still can't get a work permit. He's probably going to be languishing in MLS another year.

If I had to languish for a year, I'd prefer to languish at Chivas. I think Preki is a really good coaching prospect. Chivas was my favorite team to watch last year. They play attractive soccer (for MLS).

[shnsajax]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6YUQdPraao

 

 

 

I think Dodgerblues board rules should apply when talking about Mexico

[wolf stansson]

http://banners.affiliatefuture.com/739/50813.jpg

Looks nice with the black shorts.

[sethuel1]

Just put on my US Soccer shield t-shirt. I'm ready.

[shnsajax]

Just put on my US Soccer shield t-shirt. I'm ready.

 

I played against a team that didn't speak any english last night. I am even more ready than before for them to beat the crap out of them. I haven't even looked at the Mexico roster, but I am sure I will hate more than half the team.

[wolf stansson]

Just put on my US Soccer shield t-shirt. I'm ready.

 

I played against a team that didn't speak any english last night. I am even more ready than before for them to beat the crap out of them. I haven't even looked at the Mexico roster, but I am sure I will hate more than half the team.

It is muy bien. Castillo is out, but I the rest of their big guns are there iirc.

[wolf stansson]

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/02/red-bulls-nearl.html#more

Lost in the commotion surrounding the European transfer of Eddie Johnson and the failed transfer move by Brad Guzan was a transfer bid that stayed under the radar and nearly became the biggest story of the MLS off-season.

 

Red Bulls and U.S. national team forward Jozy Altidore almost transferred to English club Reading. The bid was one of the best kept secrets secrets of January and Altidore came close to joining fellow Americans Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey at the club.

 

"I've heard a lot about the club and it was an up and coming club that was interested in me," Altidore said. "It looked like it was something that was going to be a good idea for me but the Red Bulls are where I'm going to be.

 

"This is my where my home is going to be right now," Altidore said. "I'm committed to the team and I'm not even worried about what happened."

 

According to sources, Reading had been scouting Altidore for more than two years and made a serious bid, which Altidore was strongly considering. Reading's inability to sell one of it's players during the transfer window may have caused the potential deal to fall apart.

 

Currently in 17th place in the English Premier League, one point out of the relegation zone, Reading had targeted Altidore to help the club's struggling offense, which has been shut out in four straight matches. Reading is currently on a nine-match winless streak (0-8-1).

 

So why did Altidore consider Reading? The chance to play right away in the English Premier League, as opposed to going to a bigger club and not playing much, was appealing, as well as the fact that Reading had been following Altidore closely for years.

 

Altidore is expected to be a major transfer target again this summer (He also received serious interest from Real Madrid this winter) but the chances of a Reading deal appear remote.

 

"It was a whole process and it just didn't work out,' Altidore said of his talks with Reading. "I'm still happy to be with New York because I've watched this team since I was growing up.

 

"This is the team I wanted to play for in the beginning and the team I'm playing for now and I wouldn't have it any other way."

 

Crazy. Reading would've been a good move. Guaranteed major minutes right away.

 

Oh well, after he leads MLS in goals this year, he'll be an even bigger target.

[USSoccer]

Just put on my US Soccer shield t-shirt. I'm ready.

 

I played against a team that didn't speak any english last night. I am even more ready than before for them to beat the crap out of them. I haven't even looked at the Mexico roster, but I am sure I will hate more than half the team.

It is muy bien. Castillo is out, but I the rest of their big guns are there iirc.

 

No Guardado either.

[USSoccer]

England won Capello's debut 2-1 on goals from Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips, in a game that saw Wayne Rooney do his best Frank Lampard WC2006 Shooting Spree imitation.

 

In other news, I have my Dempsey kit on, and have already started shouting obscenities at my wife (she's Mexican).

[wolf stansson]

In other news, I have my Dempsey kit on, and have already started shouting obscenities at my wife (she's Mexican).

I love it.

 

 

 

Prediction: US 3, Mexico 2

US - Donovan (penalty), Bradley and Altidore.

Mexico - Dos Santos and someone else; let's say Vela.

 

Michael Bradley is going to assert himself today, putting a lock down on the midfield with some aggressive tackling and will score on a corner that is hopefully taken by Adu. MB is well on his way to being the most capped US player ever.

[shnsajax]

ussoccer.com has Studio 90 showing live pregame warm ups. I don't remember seeing the red warm up jerseys.

[USSoccer]

I'm not necessarily convinced of a US win tonight. Mexico is going to beat us here sooner or later. If our central defense continues to suck in 2008 as it did in 2007, we're going to have problems with the Mexican attack, even without Nery and Sideshow Andres. No Cherundolo doesn't help.

 

I'll go with 1-0 US, but I wouldn't be stunned to see something like 2-1 Mexico.

[shnsajax]

England won Capello's debut 2-1 on goals from Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips, in a game that saw Wayne Rooney do his best Frank Lampard WC2006 Shooting Spree imitation.

 

In other news, I have my Dempsey kit on, and have already started shouting obscenities at my wife (she's Mexican).

 

Very Cuauhtémoc Blanco like

[Guest]

I've been wearing my "2-0, More than just a score" shirt all day.

[USSoccer]

England won Capello's debut 2-1 on goals from Jermaine Jenas and Shaun Wright-Phillips, in a game that saw Wayne Rooney do his best Frank Lampard WC2006 Shooting Spree imitation.

 

In other news, I have my Dempsey kit on, and have already started shouting obscenities at my wife (she's Mexican).

 

Very Cuauhtémoc Blanco like

 

I said "shouting obscenities", not "beating her senseless".

 

And she knows it's all in good fun.

 

Also, per SBI the Oompaloompa confirmed that we'll be playing a "Top 5" team in the Northeast on June 8th. There's also speculation that on June 4th, we'll be playing a "Top 20" team in Europe. So that probably means England in Wembley, and Argentina in Foxboro, since Euro 2008 starts June 8th and the current top 5 is Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain and Germany.

 

England in Wembley, if that's the one, probably is the match Beckham gets his 100th cap.