Has Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich exercised some creative input into the team's new third kit?
Some Blues messageboard users think he might have, after several pointed out its similarity to the Russian Imperial flag.
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, August 12, 2011
Chelsea's white and yellow third kit 'looks like Russian Imperial flag'
Has Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich exercised some creative input into the team's new third kit?
Some Blues messageboard users think he might have, after several pointed out its similarity to the Russian Imperial flag.
England: Premier League Weekend Previews & Predictions
A new season dawns in the Premier League this weekend and after a summer of transfers and continued speculation, it is now time for action. Unrest has spread across England this week with riots flaring up in London and other major cities, and as a result Tottenham's home clash with Everton has been postponed. But elsewhere, the show must go on, and there are some mouth-watering encounters as top-flight sides look to get their campaigns off on the front foot. Champions Manchester United will be gunning for a record 20th league title and they kick-off at West Brom on Sunday, while Chelsea, under the tutelage of new manager Andre Villas-Boas, face Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. Two newly-promoted sides are in action on Saturday with QPR and Norwich looking forward to life in the top-flight once again after success in the Championship last term. Rangers host Bolton and the Canaries travel to Roberto Martinez's Wigan, who narrowly escaped relegation in May. Elsewhere, Liverpool host Sunderland, Wolves go to Blackburn, Aston Villa play Fulham and the evening game sees Newcastle take on Arsenal.
Preview
Liverpool vs. Sunderland: Preview
Fulham vs. Aston Villa: Preview
Newcastle vs. Arsenal: Preview
Key Points
Paul Merson's Predictions
Lawro's Predictions
Germany: Bundesliga Weekend Preview
Former Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich clash this weekend after contrasting starts to the season. Defending champions Borussia Dortmund looked like they are once again going to be the team to beat this season when they swept Hamburg aside last Friday night. They travel to Hoffenheim, who are still reeling about a controversial goal which cost them a point against Hannover last weekend.
Philadelphia signs Freddy Adu on free transfer from Benfica
Goal.com learned on Thursday that Adu was likely headed to the Philadelphia Union, and the 22-year-old attacking midfielder was confirmed by the club as its newest member on Friday, joining on a free transfer from Portugal's Benifica.
England: SSN's Premier League Mini Preview
If you don't fancy reading those well-researched, well-written club previews in The Guardian, but want to stay informed, there's a chance the EPL will pan out like this: Arsenal will flatter to deceive, Abramovic's interference will fuck up any good work done by AVB at Chelsea, Mancini's lack of courage will keep City less the sum of their expensive parts, Spurs will impress against top teams, stutter against lower teams, Liverpool will improve but lack the quality to avoid too many draws, all meaning Manchester United will win the league despite repeatedly playing poorly. At the bottom the promoted teams will pull off the odd giant killing but be relegated, while the rest of the clubs will stay in the EPL by kicking the ball long distances and running around all.
For those of you who only really care about the top and value brevity over quality:
Arsenal
The deciding factor at Arsenal this season won't be whether Nasri or Cesc leave. It'll be whether someone at the club starts to understand how a good defense works. Many Arsenal fans seem to think all Wenger has to do is go out and buy a commanding central defender [the same fans who think Djourou had a good season]. It'd certainly help, but only an organized defensive unit will stop the team's attacking flair from being squandered. Wenger and defensive coach Pat Rice don't seem to get this. Both seem impressed by players able to make great last ditch recoveries [like Djourou] rather than ones who use positional sense and technique to stop problems occurring. Losing Cesc and especially Nasri would be a massive blow, but a midfield including Wilshere, Ramsey and Mata would still do damage and Gervinho looks decent. The trouble will be keeping RVP and Vermaelen fit. The start of the season, including a mean Champions League tie, will be crucial.
Chelsea
Bringing in Villas-Boas was a bold, if unexpected, move by Chelsea. Stagnation was setting in and things needed changing. But while there's been a change in manager there's been no real change of players, and as past managers have found, most of the team only know one style of play. Fans will fear that not only has £50 mil been wasted on the next Shevchenko , it's money AVB could have used to introduce a more attacking style. Instead he's left forcing square pegs into round holes. Above all he needs to get Torres scoring and to do so he needs to get him the ball. Sneijder would do this, but he seems too rich even for Chelsea. If they don't get Modric either, AVB could be screwed even before he gets started
Liverpool
Shrugging off valiant efforts from Malaga and Paris Saint-Germain, The Reds have been determined to prove they can overspend better than anyone else. It seems £75mil only gets you Henderson, Downing and Carroll. Are you taking the piss?! But that aside, Liverpool could be quite effective. Not effective enough to win the league, but a CL spot is possible. Unlike Man City, there's a logic to their huge cash outlay: if you've bought Carroll it makes sense to buy Downing, if Gerrard is always injured it makes sense to have Adam. And they have Luis Saurez, who tore up the Copa America like a Londoner tears up his city. The defense still looks suspect, where, unless they buy, they could be relying on an aging Carragher and promising youngsters at full back. But if Arsenal lose the plot Liverpool look well positioned to take fourth.
Manchester City
A rich, shopaholic friend claims leaving the house with a lot of cash is never a good thing. Instead of coming back with what you need, you end up with a lot of expensive, flashy crap you can't offload on Ebay. And to an extent this applies to Man City, who, while buying some real quality, have stockpiled a shed load of average players no one wants to buy. What's more, even some of the better players don't seem right for the EPL. They have Clichy, Lescott, Kolorov and Zabaleta at left back while most football fans would swap all of them for Leighton Baines. That said, any team with Agüero, Toure, Balotelli, Kompany, De Silva, Dzecko and possibly Tevez and Nasri should be excepted to challenge for the title. Mancini would be better off admitting this, forgetting the cheque book, and concentrating on how his team make the next step up. Expectations are now higher and there's the CL to deal with, so they need to improve by becoming more expansive against lesser teams. A good start, with Kun settling in quickly, could see City pushing Man U all the way.
Manchester United
It's plus ca change at ManU. They've made some good signings, have a really good team and will probably win the league. What they still don't have is a top quality creative midfielder. Despite the cost it's a surprise they've not gone for Schneider. Buying him wouldn't be a Real Madrid type vanity signing. It'd fill the one obvious weakness of the squad: a proven performer able to bring the best out of other players. But even without him the unconvincing state of Chelsea and Man City mean it's still easy to see them being good enough to win the league. Were Chelsea able to get Torres scoring or Mancini to find some balls then United's lack of quality in midfield could cost them. But it's unlikely.
Tottenham
Maybe Arsene Wenger's aversion to spending is spreading across North London. That Redknapp hasn't brought in a striker or a central defender by now is baffling. Scoring was Spurs' major weakness last season and with Woodgate's departure and King's knees they're light at the back. They've players they can sell to raise funds and there are players in both positions out there. Whether Modric stays or nor is obviously important, but Spurs need consistency in these positions either way. Presuming he gets that sorted Rednapp will be hoping Kyle Walker, who had a good U21 Championship, will be a plus at right back, that Bale stays fit and that Van der Vaart doesn't slip into the moody player he became at past clubs. If these things don't fall into place Spurs could again struggle away from home, drawing games they should win, and stay bottom of the top six.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Adrian Mutu banned for life by Romania for night of drinking with West Brom's Gabriel Tamas
Troubled striker Adrian Mutu has been expelled from the Romanian national team for life after spending a night drinking with a team-mate ahead of a friendly against San Marino, coach Victor Piturca said.
Paul Hayward: Postponing opening day bursts football's business-comes-first bubble
The gulf between the opulent existence of the top-end footballer and the poorest residents of Tottenham has never been more pronounced. This week we saw England's footballers appeal for calm and Liverpool and Everton issue a joint statement appealing for the chaos to stop. More dubiously, the billionaire Bernie Ecclestone posited that it would be "terrible" for England's image if Premier League games were rearranged, as if the TV pictures from our burning cities had not already shown the rest of the globe that London is no Camberwick Green.
London riots: nine Premier League fixtures and full Football League programme to go ahead
The Premier League have confirmed that the nine remaining top-flight matches in the opening round will go ahead after Tottenham's match against Everton was postponed due to this week's riots.
Jon Carter: Rewind to 1997
The start of the Premier League season sometimes brings with it the kind of serendipity usually reserved for the silver screen. For the opening fixture on August 10, 1997 the computer saw fit to pair Tottenham with Manchester United, with Spurs having just sold star striker Teddy Sheringham to the Red Devils. The match would be a memorable one for Sheringham as he struggled to fill Eric Cantona's boots at Old Trafford.
Player strike to disrupt Spanish season
The Spanish professional footballers' union (AFE) has announced they will go on strike and delay the start of the new La Liga season in a row over a wage guarantee fund.
Phil McNulty: My Premier League 2011-12 Predictions
Manchester United's show of strength in the Community Shield win against Manchester City demonstrated their determination to land a 20th domestic title.
Can City build on their 2011 FA Cup win and seriously threaten their Old Trafford neighbours? Or can new Chelsea boss Andrea Villas-Boas bring the title back to Stamford Bridge?
Kenny Dalglish has spent £100m since returning as Liverpool manager in January, but will that be enough to beat Arsenal and Spurs to a place in the top four and a return to the Champions League, the publicly-stated aim of Liverpool owner John W. Henry?
And can any of the promoted teams - Queen's Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City - expect to survive in the top-tier?
So many questions - and time to dust down the crystal ball and to try to predict what the forthcoming Premier League season will bring...
MLS and NBC announce three-year broadcast deal
Each season, NBC will broadcast two regular-season MLS games, two playoff games and two U.S. national team matches. The rest will be shown on NBC Sports Network, which will be the new name of Versus starting in January 2012.
The move signals the end of Major League Soccer's relationship with Fox Soccer Channel, while the league will continue to broadcast on ESPN. Both ESPN and NBC's contracts now run through 2014.
Montreal MLS team hires Jesse Marsch
U.S. assistant Jesse Marsch has signed a three-year deal to coach the Montreal Impact when the club makes the jump to Major League Soccer next season.
International Friendly: United States 1 - 1 Mexico
Jurgen Klinsmann sent a message in his U.S. coaching debut without saying a word. He stripped the names off the back of the jerseys and assigned Nos. 1-11 for the starters and 12-18 for the reserves. He wanted the Americans to know that all that mattered was representing their country. Klinsmann's debut is out of the way, and now the real work begins.
Grant Wahl: Three Thoughts
Martin Rogers: Tall task ahead
Player Ratings
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