Friday, February 14, 2014

Adriano, FA Cup, Juande Ramos, The Joy of Six, Onyewu, Eddie Johnson, Brendan Rogers' Face Tattoo

The romance of the Cup: Sunderland shock Leeds at Wembley in 1973.
Whew! Bit of a weather event at SSN Headquarters and we were forced to shut everything down yesterday. We're back up and running, however, and looking forward to another solid weekend of football. It's FA Cup time in England, with Manchester City vs. Chelsea and Arsenal vs. Liverpool leading the listings. In Italy, AC Milan host Bologna today whilst Fiorentina and Inter Milan clash tomorrow. Let's get down to bidness:


Enough of that Cup stuff. In Italy, it'll be four days of fun! Today, Bologna's visit to Milan starts the Serie A week, followed by a 4th vs. 5th clash between Fiorentina and Inter on Saturday. It all wraps up on Monday with Verona and Torino trying to prove they deserve a European position.

Not to be outdone, La Liga is offering four days of action, too! Qué bueno.

Jeff Carlisle has a task: He is attempting to figure out the curious case of Eddie Johnson. Good luck with that.

It's all very curious...
Adriano played soccer. Remember him? Sure, you do. Ahhhh...those were the days. Anyway, he's making a comeback. Yes, you can call it that.

Oguchi Onyewu really wants to play for the U.S. in Brazil. We'd love it if he did. The Yanks will face Mexico April 2 in Arizona in an attempt to prepare for the big summer tourny.

'Tottenham won a cup, everyone was happy. Then? Sacked' Sid Lowe talks to former Tottenham gaffer Juande Ramos in today's The Big Interview.

We've all heard the stories about footballers having trouble adapting to new countries and situations. The BBC has a nice little piece on how some EPL clubs handle foreign stars.

The Joy of Six today is Football Crosses. What are the odds that Golden Balls is featured?

Oh, dear. Someone actually got a tattoo of Brendan Rogers' face. Has it come to this?

Onward!!

-SSN

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

West Brom Hold Chelsea, Real Cruise, Most Dangerous Fans In English Football, Arsenal vs. Manchester United

Right! A fine Wednesday to you. Yesterday's big surprise was West Brom's draw with Chelsea. After going one up, you'd a thunk the Blues would close shop and head back to London with all three points. Not to be, thanks to Anichebe, who equalized late in the affair. Richard Jolly has Three Things to say about the match. Elsewhere, Real Madrid had little trouble advancing to the final of the Copa del Rey (most likely to face Barca) thanks to that guy Ronaldo, West Ham won, Southampton won, and Cardiff &Villa finished scoreless. Here's a review.


The fare today is far brighter, with the Arsenal/Manchester United clash claiming most of the headlines. There are some other nice ones, too, as Everton host Palace, Liverpool go to Fulham, City welcome Sunderland, and Newcastle host Spurs. Check it:

Arsenal vs. Manchester United: Preview

Here's an interesting piece: 5 Most Dangerous Fanbases in English Football Today. Millwall don't make the list, but Scuntthorpe do. Of course, stats only tell part of the story.

Here's another interesting piece: World Cup: 25 stunning moments … No1: Cameroon stun Argentina in 1990.


Giuseppe Rossi. Born in New Jersey. Plays for Italy and Fiorentina. Grant Wahl has an interview.

Onward!!

-SSN

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Midweek Premier League, Sid Lowe At The Double, Podcast, Madrid Derby II, Americans Abroad

OK, Tuesday. Whatcha got? Matches, for one. Cardiff vs. Aston Villa, Hull vs. Southampton, West Ham vs. Norwich, West Brom vs. Chelsea, Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid, Fiorentina vs. Udinese, and...wait for it...Ballinamallard United vs. Crusaders (look it up).


We'll begin in Wales and England. A bunch of this stuff covers tomorrow's action as well. Here's your lot:


It's tight at the top in the Premier League. It's also tight at the bottom (that's what she said - OH!).

The match is Spain is part of The Quest for the King's Cup. Real already have one foot in the door, up 3-0 after the first leg. Still, it is a Madrid Derby, so anything can happen. Here's all you need to know.

Podcast! It's been awhile since we checked in. Too long, really. On today's Football Weekly, a rare opportunity to revel in Arsenal's misery, as AC Jimbo is joined by Gregg Bakowski, Philippe Auclair and Michael Cox for a postmortem on Liverpool's five star dissection of the wannabe champions. The Gunners' next three games will make or break their season – and this being Arsenal and this being February, it's possible that things might go downhill quickly in North London. Boo and indeed hoo. A magnificent hat-trick for Eden Hazard in Chelsea's 3-0 win over Newcastle means that José Mourinho's men replaced Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, while at the bottom, Fulham became the latest team to leave Old Trafford with more than they anticipated after they drew 2-2 with Manchester United. Next up for United, a trip to the Emirates. Finally, we get up to speed with everything around Europe, where three teams sit at the top of La Liga; Monaco held PSG; Bayern continued their indomitable run; and Mario Balotelli had a bit of a cry – possibly because Adel Taarabt scored the fastest debut goal for Milan since George Weah.

It was a bad week for Americans Abroad. A very bad week. Clint Dempsey didn't even make Fulham's squad. Gooch got hurt. Timmy Chandler got hurt. Not good.

Scribe Time!

Where? Spain. Who? Sid Lowe. What? Luka Modric's value at Real Madrid finally appreciated.

Where? Spain. Who? Sid Lowe. What? Atlético Madrid stunned by Almería.

Where? Italy. Who? Paolo Bandini. What? Balotelli's haircut and tears distract from Milan's bad result.

Where? Germany. Who? Uli Hesse. What? Hamburg undecided over future of manager Bert van Marwijk.

Where? Spain. Who? Guillem Balague. What? Real Madrid on the rise.

Eden Hazard had a plan, apparently. Word is he wanted to be one of the best. It would appear that his plan is coming together.

AC Milan are having their troubles. Likewise, Inter. Things aren't quite as bad for the Nerazzurri, but they ain't great. Let's take a closer look at Internazionale Milan.

And finally...this is pretty great. Robert Lewandowski has already told the Dortmund faithful that he'll move to Bayern Munich this summer. Now his car has no tires.

Onward!!

-SSN

Monday, February 10, 2014

Liverpool Crush Arsenal, Atlético Madrid Stunned By Almería, Manchester United Draw At Fulham, AC Milan Lose Again, Suddenly City Can't Score

Good Day, friends! Liverpool steamrolled Arsenal, we wondered on Friday if Atlético Madrid could stay on top in Spain (they could not), Manchester United failed to get past Fulham, Milan's season of woe continued, Spurs snuck past Everton, nobody scored in Rome, nobody scored in Norwich, and Eden Hazard scored three to send Chelsea top in the BPL. Let's begin there, shall we? Here's your lot from an exciting weekend:

Ouch. Wenger takes the fall...
If you've never been to Upton Park, start planning now because you're running out of time. The Boleyn Ground will be apartments before long. If you've never seen a Milan home match at the San Siro, start planning now because you're running out of time. AC Milan intend to bail on the hollowed ground, leave it to Inter, and build their own stadium.

So, the Rome Derby failed to inspire. Malcolm Ben Gladwell has this to say: Lazio, Roma fizz dissipates in dull derby draw. And there was so much in the Premier League this weekend that we think a simple European Review will do the trick for today until we can focus a bit more on Serie A, La Liga, and the Bundesliga with The Scribes tomorrow.

Bellamy acts like...Bellamy.
OK, fine. One article on the tight race in Spain.

Onward!!

-SSN