The Soccer Thread

[shnsajax]

Jozy to Besiktas looks final:

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1614/americans-abroad/2010/08/04/2055613/breaking-news-jozy-altidore-set-for-move-to-turkish-club

A source familiar with American striker Jozy Altidore has told Goal.com USA that the Villarreal player will be on his way to Turkey in the near future to play with 13-time champions Besiktas.

 

...

 

Now it seems the USA star will head to Turkey on what the source says will be a long term deal (between four and six years) that should allow Altidore to find a regular home with one team for the first time since moving to Europe in the summer of 2008.

 

Not bad, still prefer Ajax but this would be better than Hull City. Were any German teams interested in him?

[wolf stansson]

Nobody else is running with the Jozy to Besiktas story, so it's not close to final I guess.

[wolf stansson]

GOALKEEPERS- Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)

 

DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

 

MIDFIELDERS- Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)

 

FORWARDS- Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)

 

 

No Jozy clearly hints at an impending move. No Clint? Maybe wants to get in with Hughes. Gooch needs to get in at Milan too.

[Guest]

No Onyewu, Dempsey, or Bradley really takes the backbone out of the team. It just seems like 11 guys without any of those 3(Altidore too I guess).

[wolf stansson]

No Onyewu, Dempsey, or Bradley really takes the backbone out of the team. It just seems like 11 guys without any of those 3(Altidore too I guess).

Mike's there.

[Jon]

Didn't see this posted:

 

SI[/url]"]Davies has yet to score for the first team in any of its preseason friendly matches, but he's not alone. Sochaux has three other senior forwards -- Vaclav Sverkos, Ideye Brown and the recently-signed Modibo Maiga -- and two youngsters (Edouard Boutin, 19, and Cedric Bakumbu, a European Championship finalist with the France U-19s) competing for two places in the 4-4-2 system and none of them have found the net in five matches (three losses, two wins).

........

Gillot has given Davies playing-time: against Evian, Southampton and Strasbourg, and he handed him the captain's armband in a reserve-team match against CFA, in which he scored. "I still have work to do but I'm on the right path," Davies wrote on his Twitter page after the game.

 

But the coach has pointedly played down expectations of Davies, who made an impact last season in his second Ligue 1 match, with two goals from the bench in a 3-2 defeat to then-champions Bordeaux. "It will be difficult to count on him as he still has some physical limitations and has had to relearn everything," Gillot said after the Freiburg game. "For him, it is also hard but it's clear he is not at the level he was when he joined us."

 

Those comments will be a huge concern to Davies and his entourage. The player has never stopped believing in himself and has the goodwill of his Sochaux and U.S. teammates, as well as over 60,000 Twitter followers, spurring him on. But if his fitness test results are poorer than they were 12 months ago, and his burst of pace over the crucial first yard is not what it was, as Gillot is appearing to suggest, then Davies will find it hard to get a regular place in this team.

.........

The story could then go two ways: best-case scenario is that Davies becomes an "impact sub," coming off the bench late on and making a difference once the opposition have tired. It's an important role in the team and one he would relish. Worst-case, though, makes for grim reading: Davies stays on the bench or even worse, out of the squad, and as time goes by, Gillot is forced to admit that he has lost faith in the forward.

 

With one week until the season begins, it's still too early to predict how this one will play out. Sochaux's first match next week is against Arles, another team tipped for relegation. Lose that one, and France Football correspondent Christian Manicourt's prediction "that Sochaux could be in for a long, tough season" may prove prescient. All soccer fans should hope that, at the very least, Davies plays a part in it.

[Guest]

No Onyewu, Dempsey, or Bradley really takes the backbone out of the team. It just seems like 11 guys without any of those 3(Altidore too I guess).

Mike's there.

 

I stare at computer screens too much.

[USSoccer]

Very interesting not to see Clint or Holden on there. I guess the EPL managers are not happy about this friendly date.

[wvcbxl]

Kaka underwent arthroscopic knee surgery today (in Antwerp) and will be out 3 to 4 months.

[wvcbxl]

I guess the EPL managers are not happy about this friendly date.

 

With the EPL starting on 08/14, that should come as no surprise to anyone.

They're probably not thrilled about England v Hungary either, but at least that one doesn't involve extensive travelling.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Jermaine Jones not going to play for US v. Brazil

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5441357/altidore-gonzalez-jones-marshall-out

 

Jones had been set to make his U.S. debut after playing three exhibitions for Germany and being approved for a switch last year by FIFA. The U.S. Soccer Federation said Thursday that after accepting the invitation, he decided to remain with his club ahead of its opener at Hamburg on Aug. 21. Jones missed last season because of a shin injury.

[wvcbxl]

Final preliminary CL draw today, and a couple of nice matches to look forward to:

 

Bremen v Sampdoria

Kiev v Ajax

 

Anderlecht (and Kljestan) drew Partizan Belgrade

[Guest]

Final preliminary CL draw today, and a couple of nice matches to look forward to:

 

Bremen v Sampdoria

Kiev v Ajax

 

Anderlecht (and Kljestan) drew Partizan Belgrade

 

Tottenham vs. Young Boys. Definitely want to see Tottenham make the group stage.

[shnsajax]

Jermaine Jones not going to play for US v. Brazil

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5441357/altidore-gonzalez-jones-marshall-out

 

Jones had been set to make his U.S. debut after playing three exhibitions for Germany and being approved for a switch last year by FIFA. The U.S. Soccer Federation said Thursday that after accepting the invitation, he decided to remain with his club ahead of its opener at Hamburg on Aug. 21. Jones missed last season because of a shin injury.

 

Understandable, but would have been nice to see him play for the US vs. Brazil with a lot of starters out.

[wvcbxl]

Tottenham vs. Young Boys. Definitely want to see Tottenham make the group stage.

 

If they can't beat Bern, they don't deserve to make the group stage.

[USSoccer]

Word on the street is that Freddy Adu is on his way to the LA Galaxy as a non-DP

[Mark Priors Calves]

Do any of you guys have hope that Adu will eventually contribute to the USMNT?

[wolf stansson]

Do any of you guys have hope that Adu will eventually contribute to the USMNT?

It's certainly possible. He's only on paper 20. It's clear that he's never going to be the superstar he looked like he could become, so even if he does, he'll just be a guy. So if I'm putting his ceiling at Sacha Kljestan or someone like that, I don't really care where he goes or what he does.

 

Word on the street is that Freddy Adu is on his way to the LA Galaxy as a non-DP

That would explain Alan Gordon's move across the hallway.

 

 

I wish Freddy, if he's coming back, would go to New York where he can learn what pro's do from Henry and Marquez. Or go somewhere way out of the limelight like Kansas City or Columbus.

[Guest]

Kaka underwent arthroscopic knee surgery today (in Antwerp) and will be out 3 to 4 months.

 

My friend's going to the Real Madrid game in Pasadena today and he was so pissed when he found out.

[Mark Priors Calves]

The Chosen One eventually wants to coach the US team. Where do I sign?

[shnsajax]

The Chosen One eventually wants to coach the US team. Where do I sign?

 

Seriously. He should be tired of Madrid by 2012, gives us two years before Brazil.

[USSoccer]

Chicharito is a hell of a player. His off the ball runs are very, very intelligent. If playing in England doesn't wear him down, Mexico have a great player.

[shnsajax]

Arsenal might finally be making a move for a keeper if the Pepe Reyna rumors are true. That would be a very welcomed move, wish they would make a play for Howard, but will gladly take Reyna.

[Exile on Waveland]

Arsenal might finally be making a move for a keeper if the Pepe Reyna rumors are true. That would be a very welcomed move, wish they would make a play for Howard, but will gladly take Reyna.

 

Yeah, that's almost certainly not going to happen. (And it's Reina.)

[shnsajax]

Arsenal might finally be making a move for a keeper if the Pepe Reyna rumors are true. That would be a very welcomed move, wish they would make a play for Howard, but will gladly take Reyna.

 

Yeah, that's almost certainly not going to happen. (And it's Reina.)

 

You mean he is not Claudio's half brother (brain fart on Reyna)? But it finally suggests they are looking to upgrade at keeper.