On the Eve of the new Season...

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
guess one of the few times you're allowed to feel good about a home draw is when you are Newcastle United

indeed…

You know you're team is shyte when your best player is the goalie…..How's it working out up there with Michael Owen!!! :p

Seriously….I didn't get to see the game but it was a cracker evidently.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:

Seriously….I didn't get to see the game but it was a cracker evidently.

Oi, Scholesy, despite scoring twice, was abysmal on defense partnered with the turnover that is known as Darren Fletcher. Both Toon goals came from outside the 18 yard box due to their inablility to properly close out. Argh…

Entertaining match though as niether team played very well on defense creating a lot of offense. United should have scored more than 2 goals when they have 20+ scoring chances though.

is it any wonder that given is their best player with that defence? good luck staying above chelski after drawing against an oh-so-terrible side

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
is it any wonder that given is their best player with that defence? good luck staying above chelski after drawing against an oh-so-terrible side

Watching Chelski play without Terry reminds me of the agonizing 8 months United spent without Ferdinand. They're in big trouble without Terry.

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
is it any wonder that given is their best player with that defence? good luck staying above chelski after drawing against an oh-so-terrible side

It's okay…Given is Ireland's best player too. That little island is struggling with it's football, but what a rugby team they've got. :eek: If you consider the population of the island is about 5million, take out the eastern european, English, German and French immigrants and it's down to about 1,500, and they can produce a team like that when the GAA is also feeding off it's athletes is pretty amazing. They're Irish too, not like the footie team who get in the squad because they're brits with an Irish great grandma or whatever. How many Irish accents are in the Irish football squad?

Chelski's problem goes much deeper than Terry's bad back….that team has much bigger injury woes with bruised ego's. I'm still waiting patiently for that train wreck. If United can hold on to win the premiership and chelski don't win the champions league, morono will be gone and there will be a fire-sale at Stamford Bridge. Why couldn't Abrmaovich buy racehorses like real billionaires do?

Tonights game

Aston Villa 0 - 0 Chelski

and for those interested in the mid-table goings on….

Arseholes 4 - 0 Charlton

ireland has damien duff too :(

both injured :o

Wow

not bad for a washed up midfielder!!

yeah…wow

The NY-NJ Metro-Stars/Red Bulls must be pissed.

i thought they were going for the fat ronaldo

They are, but Becks is the bigger draw.

This is akin to Bonds leaving MLB for Taiwan, as far as I'm concerned. Which is fine, as long as the best US players keep coming to Europe to learn how to REALLY play the game, I'm fine with MLS getting all the washed up Euros.

Of course, I'm not sure the entire MLS is worth $250 Million….

I wish Ronaldo, Beckham, Van Nilstelrooy, Roberto Carlos, Raul, Cannavaro (amazing how bad he is playing)… stayed in Madrid a couple more years. It is so fun to see the amounts Real Madrid spends every year and the daily problems in the team.

So if you're Real, what do you do with Becks the rest of the season? You have to transfer him, right?

Saturday, January 13

07:45 Watford v Liverpool (Setanta)
10:00 Man United v Aston Villa (Setanta)
10:00 West Ham v Fulham (SetantaX)
10:00 Chelsea v Wigan (FSC)
12:00 Blackburn v Arsenal (FSC)
2:15 Bolton v Man City (FSC)

Sunday, January 14

08:40 Everton v Reading (Setanta)
11:00 Spurs v Newcastle (FSC)

For fear of sounding cynical…Becks joing the LA Galaxy has nothing to do with football or money, it all has to do with Posh trying to get her *ahem* musical career back on track.

Also, for fear of offending the US Soccer federation, which is not my intent…where in God's name is he going to play in the real football leagues when he's got Man Utd and R. Madrid on his resume. Any other team would be a step down, with possibly the exception of Barca, but at 31 he's too old for them now.

I think it's great, really…he can use his celebrity status to promote the sport over here in the USA, but just make sure you keep sending your top talent to Europe to learn the game properly, then get your national team a European coach and The US will be a major contender in the not too distant future.

BTW….remember my prediction about chelski and the train wreck???? It's happening sooner than I thought. :D

Fulham given green light for £3m Dempsey
Paul Logothetis
Thursday January 11, 2007
The Guardian

Clint Dempsey has become the third United States international at Fulham after receiving a work permit yesterday. Dempsey, the 2004 Major League Soccer rookie of the year, arrives from New England Revolution in a deal that could eventually be worth £3m.

The 23-year-old midfielder will join his fellow countrymen Carlos Bocanegra and Brian McBride, who were brought to the club by the Craven Cottage manager Chris Coleman in January 2004. Fulham are also in talks with the American defender Oguchi Onyewu, who is reportedly close to making a £1m switch from the Belgian side Standard Liège.

The Home Office panel approved the permit for Dempsey even though he has played less than 75% of the US team's recent games. He has, however, been involved in nine of their 13 matches last year, giving him 23 caps. Dempsey scored the only goal by an American at last year's World Cup.

"We're pleased this opportunity worked out for Clint," said Steve Nicol, the New England coach and former Liverpool defender. "He has been a tremendous player for us. Clint developed his game a great deal during his time with the Revolution. It's a great credit to him and the level of play in MLS that Fulham pushed so hard to get him."

yeah, why would you want to play for (say) everton or lazio, work your ass off, and still have all the presure. better to go to l.a., get some sun and play some games

maybe he can show landon donovan a thing or two as well

dempsey's deal is great also, i know he wanted to go in the summer

not too shabby for the u.s. too bad they didnt land dreamcoach

Adam (Taunton, MA): Tommy, I saw you on Press Pass stating that Beckham was reportedly going to make $9 million/year. Now I'm reading 5 years at $250 million. That's $50 million a year! DC United just sold for $30 million a few weeks ago! Does this make any sense financially?

Tommy Smyth: (2:19 PM ET ) The fact they are reporting 250 million is in my opinion what the deal will be worth to Beckham in the 5 years that he plays with the Galaxy. The Galaxy are not paying 250 million, but he will making that sort of money with endorsements and image rights, etc.

Football in America

Beckhamâ??s away win
Jan 12th 2007
From Economist.com

David Beckham won't make Americans watch soccer

DAVID BECKHAM gained the nickname â??Goldenballsâ? as much for his earning power as for his footballing skills. Even if the latter may be in decline, the news this week that Englandâ??s most famous footballer would join Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of Europeâ??s domestic season confirmed that he has lost none of the former. He will leave Real Madrid, one of Europeâ??s top clubs, in return for a five-year deal worth as much as $250m. The ex-captain of England is set to end his career with a team that is not even the best among the dozen clubs of Americaâ??s top league, Major League Soccer (MLS). But salary, image rights and a share of the profits should see Mr Beckham rake in the sort of sums he has grown used to having in Europe.

What America stands to gain in return is less obvious. Association footballâ??soccerâ??has always struggled for popularity in the United States. LA Galaxy and Americaâ??s football authorities apparently believe that buying a 31-year-old megastar, albeit one near the end of his career, may somehow give a jolt to the game, encouraging the creation of similar audiences to those attracted by baseball, basketball and American football.

But Mr Beckham is unlikely to have a big impact. Football has long struggled to find big audiences. The North American Soccer League ran from 1968-84 and sometimes attracted decent crowds, especially after siging up ageing stars such as Pele and George Best. But when the flow of foreign talent dried up so did the crowds and the league was closed.

The latest attempt to sell soccer to America, MLS, was established as a condition of hosting the 1994 World Cup. It too has failed to thrive. Although dollars have been poured in by individuals and corporations keen to boost the game, it remains a peripheral spectator sport. MLS had predicted that crowds would grow by some 10-15% a year. But they have not. Matches drew an average of around 15,000 spectators a decade ago and get about the same today. Nor are viewers flocking to the small screen. Last Novemberâ??s MLS Cup, won by Houston Dynamo, was watched in 800,000 households, a fifth fewer than the year before.

A common explanation is that viewers enthralled with high-scoring games like baseball and American football will never warm to a game that all too often ends at 0-0. Yet there should be a sizeable audience waiting to watch: perhaps 17m Americans, many of them young, Latino and female, play football. Many of these, one might expect, would also be ready to watch the game.

In fact, Americans interested in football may simply consider the domestic product to be substandard. Cable channels broadcast matches from the worldâ??s top leagues to show how it should be played. A wage cap of under $2m per 18-man squad, intended to nurture domestic talent rather then expensive foreign imports, has deterred top athletes who can earn far more in other sports. A new rule, of which Mr Beckham has taken advantage, now allows a side to employ two designated players who are not covered by the capping system. His arrival may attract other top stars but an influx of European celebrities looking for a sinecure in their footballing dotage will hardly change the structure of the game in America.

Don Garber, who runs MLS, admitted last year that without the core support of Latinos professional soccer would not exist in America. Exhibition matches between Real Madrid, Barcelona and MLS sides drew big crowds last year. Many MLS sides are employing Spanish marketing teams and a mid-week competition with Mexican club sides is planned for next season. Latinos may not have the same draw for advertisers as the affluent middle-class folk whose children like to play the game. But if MLS wants to expand the clubs should consider importing rising stars from Spain and Latin America rather than overpaying players now somewhat past their best.