Friday, May 08, 2015

The Joy of Six, New York Derby, Championship Playoffs, Spanish Football Suspended

Griffin Park - Home of Brentford FC - West London
There goes another one, friends! The week has flown by and it's time to prepare for another weekend of action. There won't be many more, so enjoy it whilst you can! Before we get to previews, let's take a brief gander at last night's results from the Europa League. Sevilla cruised past Fiorentina at home, while Dnipro Dnipropeptreptakniptrovsk got a bullshit goal (two guys well offside - go to 1:31) to claim a draw in Naples. The second leg in the Ukraine will be very interesting. Now, then. Let's roll, beginning with the Premier League.


So, who is going down? Who will enjoy The Championship next season? Stuart James, Louise Taylor, David Hytner, and Paul Wilson examine all the contenders here. Meanwhile, who is coming up? We've already got Bournemouth and Watford set, but who amongst Norwich, Middlesbrough, Brentford, and Ipswich will join them? Indeed, who will prevail? Here's a Championship Playoff Preview. The action begins today with Boro at Brentford.


There will be matches in Spain this weekend. One of them is Barcelona vs. Real Socieded. That said, there might not be any matches in Spain next weekend. The season has been suspended due to a dispute over TV rights. Andy West brings us up to speed on the very real possibility of a truncated campaign in Spain.

Down in Italy, Juventus have the title done and dusted, so it's now all about the fight to stay up...and the fight for Europe. Roma, Lazio, and Napoli are all in the race. Here's a Weekend Preview for Serie A.

Woop! We've got a Joy of Six to enjoy this week. It's...Footballer Politicians!

There's a Derby in MLS this weekend. The Energy Drinks from New Jersey play host to NYCFCYFC in Harrison. He's a Weekend Preview for the North American league.

And finally...this asshole just keeps getting better and better.

Hey! That's gonna do it. Enjoy the weekend!

Onward!!

-SSN

Posted by The Editor at 11:37 AM 1 comments

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Mega Messi Masterclass, Manchester United Get Memphis, England Black Player Quota, Europa League Semis



How about that?! Those of us at SSN have been watching the footie for a long time, but we've only seen a performance like that of Lionel Messi's yesterday a handful of times. The Little Flea turned on the afterburners and propelled Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich. One of the greatest players ever (if not the greatest) somehow managed to take it to yet another level. Check it all out...


Barcelona 3 - 0 Bayern Munich: Sid Lowe at Camp Nou
Barcelona 3 - 0 Bayern Munich: Messi's Two Goals (video)
Barcelona 3 - 0 Bayern Munich: Three Things We Learned
Guillem Balague: Messi Better Than Ever

Back in England, Manchester United have signed Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven. He's a good player. He's Dutch. LVG is Dutch. Makes sense to us. But is he the most exciting player to come out of Holland since Patrick Stewart Arjen Robben? We're not so sure about that. Also, what does it mean for the United futures of Angel Di Maria and Adnan Januzaj? They can't be too pleased with the move.

Also in England, here's a headline for you: "Ex-England manager Graham Taylor 'claimed FA tried to limit number of black footballers in the team', according to new book." It's a book, it's disputed, but you know what's sad? It's not surprising.

Sevilla vs. Fiorentina. Napoli vs. Dnipro Dnipropeptreptakniptrovsk. Yes, should you need a fix after all the Messimania, you've got the Europa League to get you through the afternoon. Here's what you need to know.


This summer might be bereft of a World Cup or a European Championship, but we do have Copa America to look forward to. Check out Brazil's squad. They'll be looking to redeem themselves after they shat the bed against Germany last summer.

Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Diego Alves (Valencia), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio)
Defenders: Fabinho (Monaco), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Filipe Luis (Chelsea), Danilo (Porto), David Luiz (PSG), Marquinhos (PSG), Thiago Silva (PSG), Miranda (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Elias (Corinthians), Casemiro (Porto)
Forwards: Everton Ribeiro (Al-Ahli), Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk), Willian (Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Robinho (Santos), Neymar (Barcelona), Diego Tardelli (Shandong Luneng), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim)

Orlando has an MLS team now. Did you know that? Apparently, Florida is not just a place where weird people live and weird things happen. It's also a hotbed for soccer. Jacksonville? Miami? Tampa? How many more clubs can the state support?

And finally...Newcastle gaffer John Carver claims he's the best coach in the Premier League. Really.

Onward!!

-SSN

Posted by The Editor at 10:55 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Juventus vs. Real Madrid, Arsenal Beat Hull, Fabian Johnson Interview, Scribes

Well! Hello! There! Tons to get through today, including the onset of the Champions League Semi-Finals. Real Madrid travel up to Turin to face Juventus in today's affair. Too bad The Old Lady will be without Paul Pogba. Hopefully he'll be back for the second leg. Last night, Arsenal cantered to a 1-3 win at Hull, leaving the Tigers in the relegation battle. Louise Taylor was at the KC Stadium and filed this report, and here are Three Points. Oh, and we can't move on without a look at Ahmed Elmohamady's dive. OK, now we're ready.Your Premier League Table now looks like this.




Juventus vs. Real Madrid. Here we go...

Juventus vs. Real Madrid: Preview I
Juventus vs. Real Madrid: Preview II

It's Tuesday and that means it's time for Gabriele Marcotti to muse. This week, Gab's gabbing about Real Madrid's big win; Terry's message; credit to Allegri; Bayern concerns.

We never cared much for Steve McClaren. It turns out, he's wiser than we reckoned...


Now is the time on SSN when we Scribe. This week there are plenty of excellent articles. Italy gets a fair amount of attention for some reason...




Where? Germany. Who? Raphael Honigstein. What? Stuttgart hit rock bottom against Schalke yet look to be on the up

Where? South America. Who? Tim Vickery. What? Intriguing battle between north and south



Fabian Johnson. He's one of those German/Americans brought into the USA side by The Diving German himself. Let's learn more about Fabian, shall we?


Podcast! This week it's...Well folks, it's all over. Against all the odds, Chelsea have won the Premier League title for the first time in plucky José Mourinho's second spell in charge at the club, and on today's Football Weekly, AC Jimbo is joined by Rafa Honigstein, John Ashdown and Ian McCourt to celebrate their much predicted triumph. With the title race done and dusted, our attention thusly turns to the relegation battle and Newcastle's utter implosion under John Carver. Will they ever pick up a point again, and will anyone shed a tear if they do end up going down to the Championship? Speaking of the Championship, we run down the final tables in said division and Leagues One and Two, before hitting the big time and previewing the Champions League semi-finals between Barcelona and Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and Juventus.

We should also catch up on Major League Soccer before we call it a day. Here are your Power Rankings and here are Five Things We Learned from the weekend.

Onward!!

-SSN

Posted by The Editor at 11:47 AM 0 comments

Monday, May 04, 2015

Chelsea Win Title, Juventus Win Title, Monday Night Football

It's a wonderful world...
Happy Monday! As expected, Chelsea and Juventus wrapped up their championships in the Premier League and Serie A, respectively. Elsewhere, Barcelona scored eight goals, West Brom beat Manchester United, Real Madrid edged Sevilla, Man City beat Spurs, Napoli crushed Milan, and Newcastle continue to implode. Let's get to it, beginning with Chelsea...


And...everything else in the Premier League...

Tottenham 0 - 1 Manchester City: Three Points
Manchester United 0 - 1 West Brom: Paul Wilson at Old Trafford

Right, so, Italy. Carlos Tevez, Patrice Evra, Arturo Vidal, and Co. have led Juventus to the Serie A title. That's FOUR-IN-A-ROW for the Turin giants. James Horncastle is on hand to say that it's a vindication of sorts for Max Allegri. Kirsten Schlewitz says, well, much of the same. Oh, and legendary keeper Alice Cooper Gigi Buffon is also on hand to talk about all the good times for The Old Lady.

NYCFCNYCFFC Songs...

Down in Spain, what exactly did we learn? That Barcelona can score eight goals in a game? Already knew that. Ronaldo scores loads of hat-tricks? Yeah, knew that, too. More tomorrow with El Sid.


Monday Night Football, friends! Hull City welcome Arsenal to the KC Stadium in hopes of a third consecutive win and a bit more distance from the relegation zone. Here's a Preview.

And finally...Chelsea were the best, but the rest were rubbish.

Onward!!

-SSN

Posted by The Editor at 11:10 AM 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)