Community Shield, Manchester City & Manchester United Season Previews, NASL, Canales on Herrera, Bundesliga on FOX, Ajax 1995

Sunday!

And so it goes. The week has come to an end. This time next week we'll be previewing the first matches of the Premier League season. Oh, wait. No, actually we won't, because we're taking a little sabbatical, but anyway...

The annual Premier League curtain raiser is on Sunday. The Charity Community Shield goes down at Wembley between Chelsea (league winners) and Arsenal (FA Cup winners). Paul Merson has a preview and his prediction here and there's a little preview here and there's another little preview here and there a bit more about both sides here and here's Richard Jolly talking about Arsenal. You can catch the match on Sunday at 10 a.m. EDT on Fox Sports 1.

The curtain-raiser for the Bundesliga is also this weekend. Tomorrow, in fact. Bayern Munich vs. Wolfsburg. Could be quite good, really. Just don't expect to see Yank Abroad Julian Green anywhere...

Backheel Breakfast

The season in Scotland officially begins this weekend. But, we don't care about that, because the league remains a mess. In case you're wondering, Celtic will win the title. Again.

A couple of biggies in the ongoing alphabetical season preview and prediction rundown today. It's neighbors Manchester City (4th) and Manchester United (2nd). Good stuff!

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

More problems for West Ham in the Europa League. The red mist descended yet again. Jacob Steinberg was at Upton Park and filed this report. Elsewhere in Europe, the match in Albania was abandoned. Lovely.

We've been waiting for Andrea Canales to update us on Herrera's sacking by Mexico. And...here she is!

Calling Frank Fatpard. Come in, Frank Fatpard. Where are you? More MLS? What's going on this weekend?

The NASL is operating. Did you know that? Can they eventually match MLS? Interesting times for North America's second-tier.

Back in Spain, Atlético Madrid and their black on black on black manager Diego Simeone are gearing up for another campaign.  They have a lot of attackers.

And finally...Ajax 1995. Champions League winners. Where are they now?

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Leicester City & Liverpool Season Previews, MLS Year One, Fiorentina, Copa Libertadores

Drogba selfie.

Hey, now. Thursday it is. Things are a wee bit quiet. The Major League Soccer All-Stars dispatched Spurs last night to the tune of 2 - 1. Kaká provided a lot of what was good and nice about the All-Stars' performance. And Big Daddy Harry Kane had a nice goal for Tottenham. Bird was out in Commerce City, Colorado, and filed this report. Doug McIntyre has Three Quick Thoughts. Grant Wahl has Three Thoughts.

Speaking of Grant Wahl, he's done a load of work to get this Birth of a League piece together. It's pretty damn interesting, too. For example: "They had another proposal to make throw-ins kick-ins."

Back across the pond, they're gearing up for the Premier League season. We've got the latest round of alphabetically arranged previews and predictions. As such, today it'll be Leicester City (19th) and Liverpool (5th).

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

Right. It looks like Di Maria is off to PSG. What went wrong for him at Old Trafford?

Backheel Breakfast

Tim Vickery is in South America keeping tabs on Copa Libertadores where the Tigres-River Plate tie remains tense after a first-leg draw. James Horncastle is in Italy and is wondering if Paulo Sousa and Giuseppe Rossi can continue Fiorentina's purple patch.

Oh, look. A Diego Costa book. Sweet.

And finally...your Premier League team's season in a sentence.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Crystal Palace & Everton Season Previews, Mexico Sack Herrera, Kaká

Not a bad squad if you're still living in 2005...

Good grief! Is it Hump Day already? They say time speeds up as you age, but this is getting ridiculous. Since the SSN Staff is on the older side, we're all freaking out as these weeks fly by. The only positive? The club season is almost here! And with that, the alphabetical previews and predictions continue. Today, we're graced with Crystal Palace (11th) and Everton (8th).

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

Kaká belongs to Jesus. He's told us so himself. But...he also belongs to Major League Soccer and is living up to the hype in Orlando by kicking some major ass. MVP? Seems logical. Sticking with MLS, does the league now have their Greatest Ever XI? Oh, and the MLS All-Star game is today. Apparently, Columbus have a decent couple of guys.

Backheel Breakfast

As noted in the subject line, Mexico's easily-excitable gaffer Miguel Herrera was canned yesterday. SSN Mexican National Team Expert Pedro predicted it would happen in a discussion around the water cooler at SSN Headquarters on Monday, but few of the staffers believed him. We suppose that's why Pedro is our SSN Mexican National Team Expert. He's usually correct when it comes to matters regarding the Mexican National Team. Farewell, Miguel.

And finally...could Villa be the EPL's surprise package this year?

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Scott Murray on Carrow Road, Bournemouth & Chelsea Season Previews, Goals of the Week, Drogba to Montreal, The Zlatan Interview

Hi, friends. Welcome. Carrow Road is now 80 years of age. Just how did Norwich build the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ in 81 days? Scott Murray takes a gander.

Next up in Premier League Season Preview & Predictions department are Bournemouth (17th) and Chelsea (First).

Speaking of Chelsea, Didier Drogba is the latest old geezer to join Major League Soccer. He'll be getting his poutine on up in Montreal with the Impact. But, wait. Didn't Chicago have his MLS rights? What happened?

Who's been spending what at the top of the Premier League?

Goals of the Week

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

This summer was quite interesting for United States Soccer. The women were great. The men...not so much. Graham Parker takes a look at the questions raised for both sides over the last couple of months. Sticking with North America, Bird has MLS Power Rankings and a Weekend Review of sorts here.

Backheel Breakfast (Yesterday)

Backheel Breakfast (Today)

Can we go to Spain? Please? Fabulous! Graham Hunter is examining Real Madrid, Barca, and Sevilla's different approaches to the transfer market.

Can we go to South America? Please? Fabulous! Tim Vickery is talking Copa Libertadores.

The Zlatan speaks! SI interviewed SSN's favorite Superhero. Check it out:

The Zlatan Interview Part I

The Zlatan Interview Part II

And finally...some Vietnamese fans are pissed at the Man City players.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Mexico Win Gold Cup, Arsenal & Aston Villa Season Previews, 2018 Qualifying

Hi there. We hope you had a fine weekend. The Editor and Mrs. Editor enjoyed a trip to the IKEA in Charlotte yesterday and saw three Eden Hazards, two John Terrys, and one Didier Drogba. No Frank Lapmard, though...

As expected, Mexico completed their CONCACAF-escorted run to a Gold Cup title last night with a win against Jamaica. In the third-place meaningless sad match, Panama beat the United States after penalties. We're really, really glad that farce of a tournament is over. Good. Grief. We'll keep it simple today, Peeps. Just that facts,  ma'am. Oh, and some rumors, of course. And absolutely NOTHING about the Gold Cup. We will note that Mexico and U.S. will play in Pasadena on October 9 to see who gets the honor of playing in the Confederations Cup.

Well, it's started. The Guardian has begun the series of Premier League Season Previews & Predictions. Alphabetically, of course. So, naturally, we begin with Arsenal (Third Place) and Aston Villa (Relegation Battle).

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

There were matches other than those for the Gold Cup this weekend. Yes, MLS rolled on and Andrea Pirlo was treated to another eight-goal fest at Yankee Stadium. Here are Five Things We Learned over the weekend. Power Rankings? Why not? D.C. on top and Philly on the bottom.

They're going to play that tournament up in Russia in a few years. You know, the World Cup? And they did the draw to try to figure out what countries from Europe will be there. Here's what's of note on that front. CONCACAF? Yeah, they did that one, as well. We'd rather not think about the USMNT right now, though.

Why the hell did The Special One sign Falcao? Dude's been ass for over a year now. Adam Bate investigates.

And finally...Jenna Jameson is a Manchester United fan.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com