wolf stansson

Handy tool to see which PL games are on which NBC channel: http://www.nbcsports.com/extratime

We haven't had a legitimate keeper debate since Friedel retired and I don't think we have one now. Guzan is in the same chair Howard was leading up to 2006. As good if not slightly better but no chance he unseats the incumbent barring injury based completely on seniority and dependability. Howard isn't going to do anything to lose the job. I have no doubt he bounces back and has a cleaner season than last year with Everton. That was fluky.

OG making 1.5 mil a year as Galaxy's third DP. Landon is going to get straight paid this Jan. Clint on 6.8 is the starting point for negotiations. Fewer years, but similar per year. Going to be a tough CBA in 2014. Players know the league has money.

I watched the Mexico friendly yesterday. Ivory Coast couldn't have been less interested. That might have been the worst result possible for Chepo because if they take any false sense of confidence from that game, they're in for a rude awakening in qualifiers. Another observation, the extent to which the Mexican media is in the bag for their national team is gross and goes a long way to explaining the false sense of grandiosity and lack of motivation to force new ideas into their set up.

I confess, I was not. There were like 5 boutique soccer mags that came out at the same time and I just kind of ignored them all rather than decide which one to support. After that article, I'm going to subscribe. So, Jurgen said after this win, he hopes we'll be in the top 15 FIFA rankings. Obviously to have any hope of being seeded, we need to continue jumping in the rankings, but it got me thinking. There are a ton of international teams outside of the cluster of elite teams that can beat each other on any given day based on form. I'd put Spain, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Argentina and Holland in the elite WC contenders group. Outside of that you have the very good teams like Uruguay, Columbia, France, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Bosnia, England etc. Is it fair to say now, that the US is firmly entrenched in that "very good" level? I feel like top 15 is an arbitrary number and there are probably a dozen or so who could fit into that level, but I also feel we're one of them. I don't think there's anyone in that secondary group that we couldn't beat (or get beat by) depending on form or a few lucky/unlucky bounces. Basically I think it's fair to say that if we met one of those teams in the knock out round of the World Cup, it wouldn't be crazy to predict a win and it would actually be crazy to predict that we wouldn't go toe-to-toe.

Aron isn't best XI. Which is fine. He will be in a couple years and his versatility and tenacity will serve us well off the bench. -------------------Howard SC-----------OG-----------MB---------FJ -----------------JJ----------SOCCER JESUS GZ------------------Deuce-------------LD ---------------------Jozy Is our best XI. Subs - Guzan, Rimando, ArJo, Evans, Brooks, Gomez, Cameron, Beasley, Kljestan, Beckerman, Mix, EJ. That would be my World Cup 23 as of today.

The General - 92/100 passes. 2 Assists. http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm16/dhohulin/MB_zps52394d9e.jpg

ArJo - contender for #2 on our F chart, as I thought. Had no real opinion on Brooks, but clearly he's the real deal and best CB prospect we've had like people claimed. Wish I had GOL to watch him more. Again we played with a consistent style regardless of score & opponent and again it paid off. Hat tip to the manager. Underrated takeaway, Swiss Army Knife Brad Evans again played a smart, controlled game and fit in well.

WHAT DO Y'ALL MUTHAFUCKAZ KNOW BOUT JOZY WHAT DZEKO AIN'T GOT [expletive] ON JOZY, DOGG

That was EJ's first non-PK goal vs non-concacaf competition. Lol.

JOOOOOOOOZY! Yes! Beastin!

What a ball. Il Genrale!

JAB looks nice though.

The crowd has the ref completely intimidated.

Hopefully ArJo steps in and makes EJ irrelevant.

Nailed it! @ussoccer: #USMNT Lineup for #USAvBIH: Howard ©; Evans, Cameron, Brooks, F. Johnson; Bradley, Jones; Bedoya, Diskerud, E. Johnson; Altidore Marking Dzeko, couldn't ask for a better test for Brooks.

This is the definitive Michael Bradley profile: http://deadspin.com/americas-most-important-soccer-player-conquers-the-old-1113369327 Oh man, that's a good read.

Steve Goff drops an article about Gideon Zelalem's chances at playing for the US. Sound like there's still a remote possibility. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/wp/2013/08/12/could-arsenals-teenage-phenom-play-for-u-s/ My whole thing is that while he's ethnically Ethiopian, was born in Germany and lived there until he was 9, just watch that video at the bottom of the article. When he speaks, it's with an American accent.

Lawrie Sanchez also used Boca in that midfield an awful lot. He was essentially playing a 8-1-1

Seems pretty much like he's not psyched about the move but he totally gets why Clint took it.

Great Dempsey interview from Wahl: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130812/clint-dempsey-seattle-sounders-mls-interview/index.html

Meh. I doubt it. Our record in Europe under Jurgen has been relatively spectacular and this is a strong first 11. Depth is bad, but the starters can hang. JK's first comments re: Dempsey: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/mens-national-team/2013/08/klinsmann-discusses-roster-and-match-against-bosnia-herzegovina.aspx I'm really excited to hear from John Anthony Brooks. This is the first player to choose the US while still having serious interest/getting call up's from the Germans. Hopefully he gets a chance to speak to the media about how and why he made his choice.

GOALKEEPERS: Cody Cropper (Southampton), Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton) DEFENDERS: John Anthony Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Michael Orozco Fiscal (Puebla), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg), Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers) MIDFIELDERS: Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Danny Williams (Reading) FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich) Some head scratchers but they won't play so, oh well. I'd go: ----------------------------------Howard Evans---------------Brooks-------------Cameron------------Johnson ------------------------Jones-----------Bradley Bedoya------------------------Mix-------------------------Johnson --------------------------------Jozy Don't believe Johannsson can play until his one-time switch goes through.

AZ hasn't shaken its wild inconsistency from last year, I see.

Nutshelling is going to be hard. Soccer is an entire world unto itself. In my experience, just start watching games at the top level. Internationals and Foreign leagues are a good place to start. If you watch an EPL game, a Champions League game or a top level international game and don't come away wanting to learn/watch more, don't bother. If you do, just keep watching and reading and you'll pick it up really fast. The sport is so great that it speaks for itself when you see it played at a high level. If the EPL is where you're interested in getting your start, don't pick a team or force anything phony like that. Just tune into NBC Sports' coverage on Saturdays and Sundays, listen to Men In Blazers podcast in iTunes on Wednesdays from Grantland Sports and if you have Sirius/XM they have Monday and Friday shows during the season. BBC's 5 Live World Football Phone In is a great podcast with serious experts from all over the world if you want to go deep. If the sport speaks to you, it will reveal itself the more you travel down the rabbit hole. My entry into fandom was the US Men's National Team but whatever grabs you is fine.