World Cup and European leagues

[ScotsFan]

Interesting article on the BBC site about the relative lack of top-flight English players in the EPL.  There's a summary of how many English players each side started this year.  Among the Big Four the averages were:

Man U 4.28
Chelsea 3.63
Liverpool 2.34
Arsenal 0.34 (!)

West Ham had the largest number of English starters with 6.61, followed by Aston Villa at 6.42.  Fulham were near the bottom, right above Liverpool at 2.42 English starters per game.  All those blo**y Americans at Fulham !

Heres the link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7417746.stm
 

It sounds like Seth Blatter is trying fix this by limiting the number of foreign players allowed to start in respective domestic leagues.  I had heard this yesterday on Sky Sports that he wants to start with making it mandatory to have a minimum 4 domestic starters per club and then increasing that number to 6.

Personally, I think this is a bit blown out of proportion.  Just look at the Champs League Final.  There were 10 English National Team members starting in the finals the grandest club tournament in the world.  To me, this rule would hurt the Premier League far more than it would help the English National Team.

[Hoosier Titan]

Yesterday Sir Alex was threatening to "report" Real to FIFA for making continued overtures to CR.  (As though FIFA officials don't read the news!)  He's certainly sold them top players before, but he seemed very exercised in this case.

I have no idea whether Kaka is (or could be) on the market, but I'd be very surprised if Torres were available.  If he were to go, I'd expect Rafa and the rest of the Spanish-speaking players to go, and possibly even Steven Gerrard, and I just don't think even the current owners are stupid enough to let that happen (fingers crossed).  Chelsea (along with Arsenal and Man U) made overtures to Torres before Liverpool did, and he wanted to play for Benitez.  I just mentioned it because the contrast between his style and Drogba's is so great, even though they are both clearly world-class talents.  According to Abromavich "second isn't good enough," and if one is looking for someone to blame, Drogba's an obvious target.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

England wins 2-0 at Wembley.  There were some positives and negatives for the US.  Donovan didn't get his 100th cap with a groin problem and he was sorely missed in the middle.  I'm not a huge fan of his on the international level, but he would have been head and shoulders above Ricardo Clark.

In other news, we have some defenders now.  Pearce played wonderfully and even old Frankie Hedjuk came on with some good ball.  It's nice to know we have a solid back four when healthy with Pearce, Bocanegra, Onyewu, and Spector.

Eddie Lewis had an incredible cross late in the game.  He will provide some good leadership to this very young squad.  The rest of the crew was decent.  Beasley again was disappointing.  I think I've finally gotten to the point where I'd bench him.  He just never comes close to his potential.

Overall a decent performance.  Neither team did very well in the front third.  I'm happy with the development of Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsy; they are both much better all-around players now.

I'm really looking forward to what should be a good showing for the U-23s at the Olympics.

[Greek Tragedy]

Believe me, I don't want to see Ronaldo go.  Three years ago, yeah, cuz all he did was annoy everyone with his useless stepovers and time wasting...but, he's grown into a world class player.  He even said if he only scores 25 goals next year, but helps (assists?) the other players score more, he'd be happy.

I don't want to see him go, but for 100 million pounds I'd do it.  Not because to get rid of him, but just to see Real pay it.

[sac]

Someone posted a reference to FC United awhile back, I stumbled across this and it made me laugh...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCXHbCYvzjI

[ScotsFan]

Beasley again was disappointing.  I think I've finally gotten to the point where I'd bench him.  He just never comes close to his potential.

Overall a decent performance.  Neither team did very well in the front third.  I'm happy with the development of Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsy; they are both much better all-around players now.

I'm really looking forward to what should be a good showing for the U-23s at the Olympics.

I agree with your take on Beasley.  He was pretty awful yesterday.  But, to be fair, he is coming off of a knee injury.  Wasn't that his first action since his injury?  I'm inclined to give him a pass for now.  I just get so fet up with him not living up to his potential.  For every flash of brilliance you get from him every once in a while, you get several duds like his performance yesterday...   It just gets aggravating! 

Overall, I thought it was a decent performance.  I would have liked to see the US put one in the net, but they really don't have anything to hang their heads over from that performance.  Now the question becomes, what kind of performance will we see from the US vs. Spain this Wednesday?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think the fact that Eddie Lewis came in and was so on form really hurt my perception of Beasley.  I think the US could have avoided that second goal if Hedjuk, Donovan, and Lewis were in the game.  Obviously, Terry's goal came down to Howard's reaction time, which no one can do anything about.

[ScotsFan]

I think the fact that Eddie Lewis came in and was so on form really hurt my perception of Beasley. 

I think how good Lewis looked had a lot to do with it.  If I were Bradley, I'd be starting Lewis next Wednesday vs. Spain.

[Browneagle64]

Hey Folks, Here's a reminder about today's game between Team U.S.A and spain.

From the M.N.T website:
After last week's defeat against England, the U.S. is ready to get back on the field against fourth-ranked Spain this Wednesday, June 4. The team arrived in Santander last Thursday, and has been training just outside the city during the buildup to this week's match. All 17 European-based players from the England squad traveled to Spain with the team, though defender Jonathan Spector has since withdrawn due to injury, while the MLS contingent arrived after this weekend's games.

Also, other notebale news on the M.N.T
The European contingent of Bob Bradley's U.S. roster traveled to Spain from London after last week's game. Players from MLS have arrived following this weekend's league action.
• Jonathan Spector (hip) has pulled out of the squad and Landon Donovan (groin) has also been left out due to injury.
• The U.S. has played Spain just twice in its history, and holds an 0-2-0 record against the country from the Iberian Peninsula.
• The first meeting between the two countries came in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, with the U.S. going down 3-1 to the eventual fourth place finishers. The U.S. rebounded from the loss, and four days later would go on to beat England 1-0 in Belo Horizonte.
• Following Landon Donovan's withdrawal from the lineup against England, Ricardo Clark remains the only U.S. player to have appeared in all four U.S. games this year, though with Clark not on the squad against Spain, his streak of appearances will end after Wednesday

[Mr. Ypsi]

Spain scored the only goal in the 79th minute - USA falls, 1-nil.

[Browneagle64]

Even though Team USA lost a tough game to Spain, I still think Coach Bradley and Co. are all doing a fine job in getting the team ready to play hard nose soccer, even in times when their big stars are hurt. Of course, anyone would love to see Team USA beat a team like Spain, but at least this team knows what they need to do to win, what things they need to improve on and by when do they need to hone these skills in order to show the world the team USA is a great opponent to play against. Best Wishes for Team USA on their next match up against Argentina.

btw, it did not look good for "El tri" last night as this club got stomped on by Argentina 3 to 0. 

[Stinger]

Credit the US team for scheduling tough matches. But man, they need to be able to hold possession.  They just give it away far too easy.   Spain was far from its best last night. They need to play much stronger to make a run at the Euros.

Altidore sold to Villareal for $10M. Great move for the youngster. 

[Browneagle64]

Credit the US team for scheduling tough matches. But man, they need to be able to hold possession. 

No Doubt about that Stinger. I mentioned a while back on this board how I was happy to see that Coach Bradley and Co. are doing everything possible to elevate the National team into a top contender. Scheduling matches against the likes of Spain, Argentina, England, Mexico and ,heck, even Barbados (well maybe not this team.But, it sure will be fun going to this game at the Home Depot center to watch Team USA and trying to find that little hot Barbado's singer at the match. Hahaha) does good for the team.  Expect this team to start doing better once the summer gets in full swing.
Now all we need is our top players to come back from injury, have our youth learn from their mistakes, and blend this team with great vets/ young budding stars to come out with Big W's.

[Greek Tragedy]

Newspaper reports claim Ronaldo wants to go to Real, if only they have the money to pay Man. Utd.

I've always been someone who believes you only want players playing for you that WANT to play for you.  If Ronaldo doesn't want to play, sell him for 100 million pounds and buy someone who wants to play for the Red Devils.

[WLCALUM83]

Argentina 4, Mexico 1

The South American squad continues to have El Tri's number: