"Give me a break, give me a break ... break me off a piece of that ... applesauce." -- Andy "Drew" Bernard
Enjoy your club soccer this weekend, because we're headed for a drought without another international break looming in seven days.
Instead of whining about the dreariness of international qualifiers. (Ok, Bob Bradley's impendingly dull and uninspired USMNT lineup for Cuba next weekend will be picked apart next week.)
For now, a topic that's rattled around my brain for some time. Which club teams benefit from the international breaks? Do the smaller teams like Wigan get a boost since it's an extra week of the core team playing together or do the penthouse teams like Arsenal because nearly all its important players are international call-ups and subsequently get the train with the cream of the crop for a couple days?
There's obviously no exact science to this. In fact, it's probably another part to the argument of would you rather have XI all-stars on the field that have never played together or a battle hardened unit of solid professionals? You can only get so far without talent, but look at how a good manager can coax results out of a team that's bought into his system.
More than anything the International break lets the also-rans of the league catch their breath and rest their legs, while the best-of-the-best are off to some backwater field on a bumpy field trying to survive another 90 minutes of two-foot horror tackles, or at least that's what Arsene Wenger would like you to believe.
Saturday
* Sunderland v. Arsenal (Live, Setanta 9:30 a.m.) -- Sunderland, viaRoy Keane's defacto disdain for all things Arsenal, will help but Arsenal had its hiccup last week against Hull City. ... Sunderland 1, Arsenal 3
* West Brom v. Fulham (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) -- Doesn't this one smell like a late March relegation six-pointer? After a slow start the Baggies have cruised by Fulham by a point in the table. Here's a prettty fascinating stat to chew on. Eleven of the 12 matches so far this term between West Brom and Fulham have been one-goal affairs. (WBA drew 0-0 with Bolton.) Aren't you glad you clicked over here this morning? ... West Brom 1, Fulham 0
* Wigan Athletic v. Middlesbrough -- Cairo and Alexandria will be tuned in for the Battle of the Nile (cum Northwest England) -- Zaky v. Mido. With players of this caliber and continued success at the African Cup of Nations (2002, 2005, 2006 recently), how Egypt hasn't qualified for a World Cup since 1990? Ok, if that doesn't get your juices flowing, how about Lee Cattermole against his former team. I smell a red card. ... Wigan 1, Middlesbrough 1
* Blackburn Rovers v. Manchester United (Live, 12:30, FSC) -- A long time ago Morten Gamst Pederson became my defacto favorite player in the Premier League with some stunning displays against Manchester United. Nowadays, he's sort of faded away, likely since he decided to go with "Gamst" on the back of his uniform. He's still a solid pro, but his chances of a move to a "big time" team has probably come and gone. So has his fledgling pop career. As for United, it took care of business against Aalborg in the midweek, but lost Rooney to an injury. Too bad for Manchester United that they'll have to play Tevez or Berbatov. ... Blackburn 0, Manchcester United 2
Sunday
* West Ham United v. Bolton -- There are probably laws against it, but if I were West Ham right now, without a shirt sponsor I'd auction off the front to the highest bidder each week. If it turned out to be a shady porn or gambling operation, so be it. As ODB said, free money. For the team itself? Hard to gauge how good the Irons actually are. According to the table the best of their four wins is against Wigan, and the "best" team they've played is Manchester City and they lost 3-0. Who cares about the details, when you've got Gianfranco Zola as a coach/sideline lawn jockey, right? As for Bolton, this must feel like a relief after back-to-back matches with Arsenal and Manchester United, that doesn't change the fact the Trotters defense is a mis-match unit. ... West Ham 2, Bolton 1
* Chelsea v. Aston Villa (Live, Setanta, 10 a.m.) -- Don't drink the water. There's blood in the water. ... That's a Dave Mathews lyric, right? I had a roomate in college that had a blood feud with some guy that produced a Dave Mathews album. Believe me, he was a good dude, despite this fact. Any-howsie, Chelsea is a bit of a MASH unit, so there 4,603 straight game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge appears in jeopardy considering Aston Villa did get a win against the Blues last season at Villa Park. My one concern is Martin O'Neill. He's a good guy and all, but will he be able to get his team to smell blood and suck the life out of a wounded Chelsea side? I don't know. Either way, this is a game I'll be sure to watch. ... Chelsea 1, Aston Villa 1
* Manchester City v. Liverpool (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) -- Drats, two intriguing games at the same time. Figures. If City want to be taken seriously, it needs three points from matches like this. Javier Mashcherano and Xabi Alonso are going to earn their paychecks this week, chasing around Elano, SWP, Robinho, etc, because this doesn't seem like a great matchup for Liverpool. Then again, if Gerrard and Torres rise to superhuman status and Robbie Keane bags another goal, well, that's the script every weekend now isn't it? ... City 1, Liverpool 2
* Portsmouth v. Stoke City -- I have no way know or verify this, but this match up could contain the two largest, most physically imposing defenses in the history of the Premier League. ... Portsmouth 2, Stoke 1
* Tottenham v. Hull City -- Two points? Two god damned points? That must be the refrain around White Hart Lane these days. My goodness. You'd be hard pressed to find two teams and sets of fans that are at different ends of the emotional spectrum than these two. Perhaps the difference between the sides is this -- the Hull players know their rolls, while Spurs are struggling to figure out how six creative midfielders can flourish together. Tottenham will get the ship righted, just not this week. ... Spurs 1, Hull 1
* Everton v. Newcastle United. -- Des-par-ration!!! Des-par-ration!!! Everton might have been knocked out of the UEFA Cup, but at least they have some leadership qualities in the likes of Mikel Arteta and managere David Moyes. Newcastle United is about as clueless and rudderless a team as you could find. The Magpies make the Los Angeles Galaxy seem competent by comparison, and that's no easy task. If you haven't already read caretaker manager Joe Kinnear's rant, please do. All I can think of is Chaz Heston in 'Planet of the Apes' -- "It's a madhouse...A MADHOUSE!" ... Everton 1, Newcastle United 0
Last week: 4-6
Season: 25-34
Enjoy your club soccer this weekend, because we're headed for a drought without another international break looming in seven days.
Instead of whining about the dreariness of international qualifiers. (Ok, Bob Bradley's impendingly dull and uninspired USMNT lineup for Cuba next weekend will be picked apart next week.)
For now, a topic that's rattled around my brain for some time. Which club teams benefit from the international breaks? Do the smaller teams like Wigan get a boost since it's an extra week of the core team playing together or do the penthouse teams like Arsenal because nearly all its important players are international call-ups and subsequently get the train with the cream of the crop for a couple days?
There's obviously no exact science to this. In fact, it's probably another part to the argument of would you rather have XI all-stars on the field that have never played together or a battle hardened unit of solid professionals? You can only get so far without talent, but look at how a good manager can coax results out of a team that's bought into his system.
More than anything the International break lets the also-rans of the league catch their breath and rest their legs, while the best-of-the-best are off to some backwater field on a bumpy field trying to survive another 90 minutes of two-foot horror tackles, or at least that's what Arsene Wenger would like you to believe.
Saturday
* Sunderland v. Arsenal (Live, Setanta 9:30 a.m.) -- Sunderland, viaRoy Keane's defacto disdain for all things Arsenal, will help but Arsenal had its hiccup last week against Hull City. ... Sunderland 1, Arsenal 3
* West Brom v. Fulham (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) -- Doesn't this one smell like a late March relegation six-pointer? After a slow start the Baggies have cruised by Fulham by a point in the table. Here's a prettty fascinating stat to chew on. Eleven of the 12 matches so far this term between West Brom and Fulham have been one-goal affairs. (WBA drew 0-0 with Bolton.) Aren't you glad you clicked over here this morning? ... West Brom 1, Fulham 0
* Wigan Athletic v. Middlesbrough -- Cairo and Alexandria will be tuned in for the Battle of the Nile (cum Northwest England) -- Zaky v. Mido. With players of this caliber and continued success at the African Cup of Nations (2002, 2005, 2006 recently), how Egypt hasn't qualified for a World Cup since 1990? Ok, if that doesn't get your juices flowing, how about Lee Cattermole against his former team. I smell a red card. ... Wigan 1, Middlesbrough 1
* Blackburn Rovers v. Manchester United (Live, 12:30, FSC) -- A long time ago Morten Gamst Pederson became my defacto favorite player in the Premier League with some stunning displays against Manchester United. Nowadays, he's sort of faded away, likely since he decided to go with "Gamst" on the back of his uniform. He's still a solid pro, but his chances of a move to a "big time" team has probably come and gone. So has his fledgling pop career. As for United, it took care of business against Aalborg in the midweek, but lost Rooney to an injury. Too bad for Manchester United that they'll have to play Tevez or Berbatov. ... Blackburn 0, Manchcester United 2
Sunday
* West Ham United v. Bolton -- There are probably laws against it, but if I were West Ham right now, without a shirt sponsor I'd auction off the front to the highest bidder each week. If it turned out to be a shady porn or gambling operation, so be it. As ODB said, free money. For the team itself? Hard to gauge how good the Irons actually are. According to the table the best of their four wins is against Wigan, and the "best" team they've played is Manchester City and they lost 3-0. Who cares about the details, when you've got Gianfranco Zola as a coach/sideline lawn jockey, right? As for Bolton, this must feel like a relief after back-to-back matches with Arsenal and Manchester United, that doesn't change the fact the Trotters defense is a mis-match unit. ... West Ham 2, Bolton 1
* Chelsea v. Aston Villa (Live, Setanta, 10 a.m.) -- Don't drink the water. There's blood in the water. ... That's a Dave Mathews lyric, right? I had a roomate in college that had a blood feud with some guy that produced a Dave Mathews album. Believe me, he was a good dude, despite this fact. Any-howsie, Chelsea is a bit of a MASH unit, so there 4,603 straight game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge appears in jeopardy considering Aston Villa did get a win against the Blues last season at Villa Park. My one concern is Martin O'Neill. He's a good guy and all, but will he be able to get his team to smell blood and suck the life out of a wounded Chelsea side? I don't know. Either way, this is a game I'll be sure to watch. ... Chelsea 1, Aston Villa 1
* Manchester City v. Liverpool (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) -- Drats, two intriguing games at the same time. Figures. If City want to be taken seriously, it needs three points from matches like this. Javier Mashcherano and Xabi Alonso are going to earn their paychecks this week, chasing around Elano, SWP, Robinho, etc, because this doesn't seem like a great matchup for Liverpool. Then again, if Gerrard and Torres rise to superhuman status and Robbie Keane bags another goal, well, that's the script every weekend now isn't it? ... City 1, Liverpool 2
* Portsmouth v. Stoke City -- I have no way know or verify this, but this match up could contain the two largest, most physically imposing defenses in the history of the Premier League. ... Portsmouth 2, Stoke 1
* Tottenham v. Hull City -- Two points? Two god damned points? That must be the refrain around White Hart Lane these days. My goodness. You'd be hard pressed to find two teams and sets of fans that are at different ends of the emotional spectrum than these two. Perhaps the difference between the sides is this -- the Hull players know their rolls, while Spurs are struggling to figure out how six creative midfielders can flourish together. Tottenham will get the ship righted, just not this week. ... Spurs 1, Hull 1
* Everton v. Newcastle United. -- Des-par-ration!!! Des-par-ration!!! Everton might have been knocked out of the UEFA Cup, but at least they have some leadership qualities in the likes of Mikel Arteta and managere David Moyes. Newcastle United is about as clueless and rudderless a team as you could find. The Magpies make the Los Angeles Galaxy seem competent by comparison, and that's no easy task. If you haven't already read caretaker manager Joe Kinnear's rant, please do. All I can think of is Chaz Heston in 'Planet of the Apes' -- "It's a madhouse...A MADHOUSE!" ... Everton 1, Newcastle United 0
Last week: 4-6
Season: 25-34
Labels: Prem Picks, Soccer
Adu and Alitidore are on the roster for the Cubs match
. So is Jose Francisco Torres. Do we have to cap him to lock him up or does the call up tie him to the US team forever?
Holy shit, that Kinnear rant is EPIC. That made my day.