Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Holland’s Maarten Stekelenburg head a three-man shortlist to replace Edwin van der Sar at Manchester United following the 40 year-old’s confirmation that he will retire from football this summer.
SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Edwin Van der Sar's retirement puts Manchester United's spotlight on Manuel Neuer and Maarten Stekelenburg
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Holland’s Maarten Stekelenburg head a three-man shortlist to replace Edwin van der Sar at Manchester United following the 40 year-old’s confirmation that he will retire from football this summer.
England: FA Cup Weekend Previews & Predictions
Brace yourselves, everybody, because it’s FA Cup fourth-round weekend in England (from here on out known as the tremendous thirty-two). The FA Cup is the most exciting tournament in the country, and there's always the chance for huge upsets in every round. We’ve got our share of big matches: Everton host Chelsea at Goodison Park in what looks to be the choicest fixture of the round. We've got David and Goliath games such as Nottingham County vs. Manchester City. We’ve also got some not-very-big-at-all-matches – apparently I have to preview Burnley vs. Burton Albion and yeah, that’s going to go well.Preview I
Preview II
Fulham vs. Tottenham: Preview
Phil McNulty: Can FA Cup cheer Moyes and Ancelotti?
Lawro's Predictions
Germany: Bundesliga Weekend Preview
Friday
Bayer Leverkusen - Hannover
Saturday
St Pauli – Koeln
Werder Bremen – Bayern Munich
Schalke – Hoffenheim
Wolfsburg – Borussia Dortmund
Nuernberg – Hamburg
Kaiserslautern – Mainz
Sunday
Stuttgart – Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt – Borussia Moenchengladbach
Preview
Italy: Serie A Weekend Preview
Inter Milan host Palermo on Sunday knowing that a defeat could see them drop from the top six. Palermo lie one point behind Inter, who are fifth - level on 35 points with Juventus - but have a game in hand. AC Milan visit strugglers Catania looking to maintain their four-point lead at the top of the standings. Lazio are in fourth place and go into Saturday's game against Fiorentina with just one win from their last four games. Valon Behrami will make his Viola debut against his former club having joined from West Ham this week. Juventus will be put to the test when they host red-hot Udinese, who beat Inter 3-1 having previously won 4-2 at Genoa.
Spain: La Liga Weekend Preview & Eduardo Alvarez's Quiniela + Guillem Balague
Hercules coach Esteban Vigo believes his side can upset all the odds and complete a double over table-topping Barcelona. The reigning champions were undone 2-0 at the Nou Camp on matchday two as a brace from Nelson Valdez gave the newly-promoted side a famous victory.Preview
Eduardo Alvarez's Quiniela
Guillem Balague's Column
Grant Wahl: Gerard Piqué Interview
SI.com: Lastly, you're known as a prankster on your teams. What's your best prank of all time?
Piqué: The best prank? I remember one we did against Cesc Fàbregas. Here in Spain we have these small bottles of milk. And I went with [Carles] Puyol in the national team, and we took all the milk out and put liquid potatoes, potato purée, inside the bottles. You couldn't see if it was milk or potato liquid inside because of the label. So Cesc opened the bottle and started to drink the potatoes. He went crazy against me and Puyol! We were laughing so hard for days and days.
Steve Davis: U.S. talent pool suits a 4-2-3-1
The secret is out on Bob Bradley: The U.S. coach has some tactical wanderlust in him, after all.
We all raised a curious brow at that dalliance with the 4-2-3-1 formation late last year, a walk on the wild side for a man previously tied to a 4-4-2. Fans wondered if it was just a brief fling. Now they may be nodding with approval at something that looks more like a steady thing.
The Joy of Six: Training-Ground Set-Piece Goals
From Ernie Hunt's classic to a magic Matt Le Tissier moment, here are half a dozen goals created on the training ground.
Richard Williams: Bid for Fernando Torres shows Chelsea's strengths and weaknesses
Abramovich has shown he is still prepared to spend big but Liverpool can demonstrate their strength by holding on to Torres.
Dominic Raynor: Off The Ball
Off The Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories. This week, Lionel Messi is fined €2,500 for wishing mum happy birthday, German club St Pauli ban strippers from their executive boxes, Real Madrid show their support for Jose Mourinho with fake banners and Mohamed Diame slaughters "crappy" Wigan.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
U.S. national team needs to handle youngster Agudelo with caution
From Freddy to Jozy to Juan they have passed the label of "The Future." Deserved or not. Ready or not.
Guillem Balague: Ade's Real Deal
Sky Sports' Spanish football expert revealed the deal for the Togolese striker to join Real on loan from Manchester City for the rest of the season after their bid to re-sign Ruud van Nistelrooy from Hamburg failed.
Jose Mourinho would then have an option to sign Adebayor permanently in the summer, but Balague feels it's more likely to be a short-term deal to cover for the injured Gonzalo Higuain.
Together again...
England: Tuesday's Premier League Reports
Blackpool 2 - 3 Manchester UnitedReport
Phil McNulty at Bloomfield Road
Richard Jolly at Bloomfield Road
Wigan 1 - 2 Aston Villa
Report
Paul Wilson at the DW Stadium
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Andy Gray Leaves Sky Sports
Sky has confirmed it has terminated his contract in light of "new evidence of unacceptable and offensive behaviour".
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