The Soccer Thread

[shnsajax]

So whats the word on Joe Corona? Just read the soccernet article on him, obviously know very little about him and don't watch much mexican soccer.

[wolf stansson]

I hot nothin. He did just get called into Mexico's u-23's

[USSoccer]

-Corona isn't anyone worth losing sleep over.

 

-He's not cap-tied by playing with their U-22's

[wolf stansson]

wvcbxl's peeps for the friendly:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Atletico de Madrid, Spain), Jean-Francois Gillet (Bologna, Italy), Simon Mignolet (Sunderland AFC, England)

 

Defence: Toby Alderweireld (Ajax, Holland), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City, England), Nicholas Lombaerts (Zenit, Russia), Denis Odoi (Anderlecht), Daniel Van Buyten (Bayern Munchen, Germany), Jelle Van Damme (Standard), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal, England), Jan Vertonghen (Ajax, Holland).

 

Midfield: Moussa Dembele (Fulham, England), Marouane Fellaini (Everton, England), Eden Hazard (Lille, France), David Hubert (Genk), Dries Mertens (Eindhoven), Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (Club Brugge), Timmy Simons (Nurnberg, Germany), Jelle Vossen (Genk), Axel Witsel (Benfica, Portugal).

 

Attack: Igor de Camargo (Monchengladbach, Germany), Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, England), Marvin Ogunjimi (Genk), Bjorn Vleminckx (Brugge).

[wolf stansson]

For some reason I thought Dembele was Dutch.

 

Why is it that I look at that roster, think to myself, hot damn that's a far better squad than we have, yet no one ever talks about them as contenders for the Euros?

[shnsajax]

For some reason I thought Dembele was Dutch.

 

Why is it that I look at that roster, think to myself, hot damn that's a far better squad than we have, yet no one ever talks about them as contenders for the Euros?

 

Their youth squad has really improved too. They should be improving for the next several years.

[wolf stansson]

Bitchin:

Group A

Bayern Munich

Manchester City

Napoli

Villarreal

 

 

Good:

Group H

AC Milan

FC BATE Borisov

FC Barcelona

FC Viktoria Plzeň

 

Group F

Arsenal

Borussia Dortmund

Olympiakos

Olympique Marseille

 

Meh:

Group B

CSKA Moscow

Inter Milan

Lille

Trabzonspor

 

Group C

Basel

Benfica

Manchester United

FC Oţelul Galaţi

 

Group D

Ajax

Dinamo Zagreb

Lyon

Real Madrid

 

Group E

Bayer Leverkusen

Chelsea

Genk

Valencia

 

Group G

APOEL FC

FC Porto

Shakhtar Donetsk

Zenit St Petersburg

[Mark Priors Calves]

Group A is awesome. And I don't think I've seen a Belarussian side in the group stage before.

[wvcbxl]

Group A is awesome. And I don't think I've seen a Belarussian side in the group stage before.

 

Group A is going to be tons of fun.

And BATE Berisov also made the group stage on 08/09. (eliminating Anderlecht on their way, that's how I knew)

 

ETA: nice draw for Genk - a crowd puller (Chelsea) and a short away trip (Leverkusen is only 80 miles away)

[wolf stansson]

Holy crap, I hadn't seen this goal by Brek Shea against Toronto.

 

 

The man crush grows. Steals the ball, lays it off, gets it back, 30 yard run, right footed blast to the upper 90 from 30 yards out.

 

Skills.

 

Btw, Jozy just scored again in red hot UEFA action. Makes it 4 in 3.

[shnsajax]

Holy crap, I hadn't seen this goal by Brek Shea against Toronto.

 

 

The man crush grows. Steals the ball, lays it off, gets it back, 30 yard run, right footed blast to the upper 90 from 30 yards out.

 

Skills.

 

Btw, Jozy just scored again in red hot UEFA action. Makes it 4 in 3.

 

He really struck that perfectly in stride, didn't even look like he was trying to get much on it and it was still rocket. You think this is his last season in MLS? I'm still shocked in just how much he has improved this year.

 

Glad Jozy is turning it up.

[wolf stansson]

Yeah he's gone in January. For sure.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/08/25/american-exports-six-players-watch-transfer-season

Brek Shea

 

Let's be clear off the bat: The FC Dallas attack terror/artist will not be packing his boots and brushes before the summer window shuts. Unlike George John, he is currently set to finish the season in Frisco. And don’t forget that Shea signed a contract with the club through 2015 earlier this season.

 

That being said, sources in England and the Netherlands indicate that Fulham and PSV Eindhoven are among the (at least) four English and Dutch sides that have been keeping increasingly larger tabs on Mr. Shea's actions in recent weeks.

There's also a Michael Bradley nugget in there that I'm going to ignore until something substantial surfaces.

 

Edit - Spoke too soon on Josmer. He's netted twice today.

http://www.noshortcorners.com/2011/08/j-j-j-jozy-updated.html

 

ITS ALL HAPPENING

[shnsajax]

I don't think I would feel too uncomfortable with Shea going to the EPL to a midlevel team like Fulham or Bolton. Seeing what Jozy is doing makes me want him in Holland too. Will he get enough burn for PSV? Guessing Roma will want to get in the mix too until the secure at least 1 American.

 

Just read that the AZ stadium plays "Born in the USA" now after each Jozy goal :-).

[wolf stansson]

K-Hamid, Howard;

D-Bocanegra, Castillo, Chandler, Cherundolo, Goodson, Loyd, Orozco Fiscal, Pearce, Ream;

MF-Beckerman, Dempsey, Edu, F Johnson, Kljestan, Larentowicz, Rogers, Shea, Torres;

F-Agudelo, Altidore, Bunbury, Donovan

 

 

No Lichaj, Jones, Bradley and who the F is F Johnson?

 

I could see all the exclusions making moves at the end of the window which would be an excuse.

 

Edit - http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Mens-National-Team/2011/08/Klinsmann-Names-Roster-for-CRC-BEL.aspx

Making his first appearance in a U.S. camp is 23-year-old Fabian Johnson. The former Germany U-21 international midfielder holds dual citizenship and currently plays for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga after beginning his career at 1860 Munich and playing two seasons with Wolfsburg.

[wolf stansson]

US Soccer

U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has named a squad of 24 players to prepare for the upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Belgium. The MNT Blog asked Klinsmann for a few thoughts on the roster and the team's upcoming games:

 

On Costa Rica:

“Playing Costa Rica is an exciting opportunity. At the moment they are in transition because of a change in leadership. Costa Rica put in an impressive performance at the U-20 World Cup.

They are a gifted team and have a lot of exciting young players coming through the ranks.”

 

On Belgium:

“Belgium is one of the up and coming nations in Europe. In qualifying for the European Championship they are right behind Germany in their qualifying group and have a good chance. All the coaches I have spoken to say they are one of most talented squads in Europe. It should be a good realistic benchmark to play against them and see where we are it.”

 

On the exclusion of Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark and Jermaine Jones:

“All three of these players are trying to sort out their club situations, and the deadline for transfers is a week away. They have also not been playing matches, so for these reasons we decided to select different players for this roster.”

 

The U.S. first hosts Costa Rica on Sept. 2 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. PT, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2, ESPN3.com and Galavision. Four days later, coverage from King Baudouin Stadium begins at 8:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. ET) on ESPN and ESPN3.com.

[USSoccer]

Fabian Johnson is a badass left back prospect that we're trying to swipe from Germany. I rate him.

 

This roster...if it doesn't end up with some player being swapped out between the two games (Mix, Gonzalez, Rolfe in particular)...is mediocre. Jeff Larentowicz and Kyle Beckerman are not international caliber players.

 

I know it's early but I'm concerned that Klinsi doesn't have a very firm grasp on our player pool.

[wolf stansson]

I think he's really just treating friendlies like friendlies. I don't think results matter to him right now. Bob never had that luxury. He's taking extended looks at a lot of players. Mix, Gatt and dudes like that will be in the Olympics.

[wvcbxl]

Europa league draw starts in under 30 minutes.

 

I hadn't realized so many big names were eliminated earlier this week: Roma, Seville, Celtic, Rangers, Panathinaikos, Spartak Moscow, Partizan Belgrade.

 

Not a single Scottish team left - that'll hurt their country rankings (and number of places in the future)

[wvcbxl]

wtf? Who did Schalke bribe to get such an easy draw?

[wolf stansson]

Some nice pedigree: http://www.socceramerica.com/article/43490/usa-welcomes-european-champ-fabian-johnson.html

Two years ago, Fabian Johnson lined up alongside Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil in a midfield that led Germany to a 4-0 win over England in the U-21 European Championship final. Now the Munich-born Johnson, whose father is American, has decided to wear the U.S. jersey, accepting an invite from Jurgen Klinsmann for friendlies against Costa Rica Sept. 2 and Belgium Sept. 6. He arrives after starting the Bundesliga season setting up three goals in three games for German first division club Hoffenheim.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing this kid play for us. One-time switch means even though these are friendlies, he's cap tied.

[wvcbxl]

One-time switch means even though these are friendlies, he's cap tied.

 

It also means that, in his own opinion, he has zero chance of making it to the Mannschaft.

[wolf stansson]

One-time switch means even though these are friendlies, he's cap tied.

 

It also means that, in his own opinion, he has zero chance of making it to the Mannschaft.

Yeah. With all the recent defections to the US team as plan B, I'm getting the sense that Lowe and the German FA have no problem being straight with guys who aren't in their plans. They're pretty up front about it. US Soccer has no problem calling somebody up just to cap tie them and then never contact them again for years. Especially Mexican dual-nationalists.

 

Also this, just because I think it's funny:

 

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6086/6079191003_0894d24456_o.jpg

[wvcbxl]

One-time switch means even though these are friendlies, he's cap tied.

 

It also means that, in his own opinion, he has zero chance of making it to the Mannschaft.

Yeah. With all the recent defections to the US team as plan B, I'm getting the sense that Lowe and the German FA have no problem being straight with guys who aren't in their plans. They're pretty up front about it. US Soccer has no problem calling somebody up just to cap tie them and then never contact them again for years. Especially Mexican dual-nationalists.

 

I get the feeling it's become more of a problem in recent years - "big" nations like Germany probably couldn't care less, but for a nation like Belgium the dilemma for some talented second generation immigrants (primarily from Morocco) has become a bit of a problem. The Mehdi Carcela saga (plays for Standard Liège, Moroccan mother, Spanish dad, grew up in Belgium) made clear just how difficult such a decision can be for a young player. He eventually chose Morocco (obviously Spain was never an option).

[wolf stansson]

Best, most insightful article ever written about Jozy: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/08/26/armchair-analyst-altidore-rising-low-countries

[shnsajax]

Its funny that he is only 21, given the amount of experience he already has. Chicharito is 23 and AZ is basically grooming him to be a similar player from what it seems. If he can learn to master that role or the one of Kuyt he will be a very very rich man.