On the Eve of the new Season...

[vansmack]

In defense of Hutch, Milito didn't even make the original 30 for Maradona.  Unbelievable.  Whomever "reminded" Diego about Milito is looking like a genius right now.

That game was destined for disaster when Ribery took his red card in the semi's.  Bayern had little chance without him.

Sadly, for American purposes, I knew the game was not going to do any favors for advancing the game.  I appreciate that Fox ran it on National TV, but I know ESPN's ratings for Barcelona/United on last years Wednesday match were going to equal the Saturday showing.  This probably has more to do with the teams then the play...

[vansmack]

man if milner is worth £30m, what is fabregas worth?

Not after yesterday's match.  I didn't even know he was out there.

This new 5-4 rule, or whatever it is, is going to make a mediocre English player worth a fortune.

[godsshoeshine]

i would never take a shot at the guy with spiderman in his side. plus higuain scored like a million goals this year

i just struggled for a hook and never went back. honestly i dont really care for bayern nor inter. though i do love jose

[sweetcell]

This new 5-4 rule, or whatever it is, is going to make a mediocre English player worth a fortune.

what is this "5-4 rule"?  is FIFA actually changing the rules of the game, or is this a euphemism for something informal?  google yields nothing on the matter...

[vansmack]

what is this "5-4 rule"?  is FIFA actually changing the rules of the game, or is this a euphemism for something informal?  google yields nothing on the matter...

Sorry.  It's not FIFA, its the Premier League.  And it's usually referred to as the "Homegrown Rule" which came out of a discussion that started as the 5-4 rule.  Anyhow, here are the specifics:

"As of next season [English] clubs will be required to have a squad named of up to 25 players, of which no more than 17 can be over the age of 21 and not home grown," said Scudamore.

"The definition of home grown is trained for three years under the age of 21 by somebody in the English and Welsh professional system. Clubs will have to declare their 25 at the end of August when the window shuts and then again at the end of January."

This has many clubs scrambling to find players who are both (1) talented and (2) qualify under this rule.  That makes decent players like Milner worth a lot more to Liverpool/Arsenal/Chelsea and maybe even Spurs now.

[godsshoeshine]

the rule is beyond ridiculous

[vansmack]

the rule is beyond ridiculous

Any team coming up from the Championship will have nothing to worry about.

Welcome back.

[godsshoeshine]

oh yeah the toon have nothing to worry about there

but the rule still doesnt make sense. i mean, charles nzogbia qualifies

[hutch]

Very pumped up for WC! Only 16 days away... I think there are a couple of killer games the first week...

Very much hoping the US has a good run starting with an unlikely win against England.

I think Brazil and Italy have to be considered the favorites as much as I love Spain and even the Netherlands.

As far as Argentina I hope they play to their comparative strength with three strikers with Tevez a bit back complementing Messi and Higuain/Milito...A 3-3-1-3 instead of 2-4-4

[vansmack]

So my World Cup plans are almost finalized.

London on June 10-13 for US vs England.  Should be a blast and I'd be happy with a draw (but predict 3-0 to Engalnd).

Lisbon for Portugal vs Ivory Coast.

Then Barcelona for Spain vs Switzerland.

Then a beach on either Majorca or Mykonos for the rest of the first round games (I'm letting them fight over who will lower their bid for me the most).

I'll be back in London for the 23rd and the last matches of Group C before heading back.

Obviously the other important matchups are entertwined throughout my travels - we aren't travelling during any match.

[hutch]

Man, Vansmack a tip of my hat.. you got it going on for sure...

[vansmack]

Man, Vansmack a tip of my hat.. you got it going on for sure...

There are a select few that think travelling to Europe to watch the World Cup on TV is a great idea.

[vansmack]

No Ching and I'm happy about it.  Buddle earned his spot last night and I think Gomez is great.  Plus I like to say Hercules in repitition and clap my hands.  Surprised about Beasley.

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England).

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Clarence Goodson (IK Start, Norway), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England).

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Bolton, England), Jose Torres (Pachuca, Mexico).

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull, England), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla, Mexico).

[godsshoeshine]

they'll end up playing dempsey up top with jozy and holden on the right, so why bring ching if youre not going to start him. bravo to bradley for realizing this. i think that gomez comes on off the bench a lot for his club team, which helps. not really too many left sided players for the u.s., i'm not that surprised demarcus made it

[vansmack]

not really too many left sided players for the u.s.

If only Giggs had played for America.

I know I made a post in here a while back about how American soccer is at a crossroads, and we have to decide whether we send our best overseas or develop the professional game over here.  Looking at that list, with only four MLS players (3.5 if you think Landy Cakes is gone in August/January), I'm really liking the US chances to make it out of the first round this year, and with a fortunate draw out of the round of 16.  I will go on record now and say that the US squad in 2014 will have no MLS players on it.  And not because the MLS will fold- it's the perfect retirement league for Euro footballers.