The Swamp

If you are a COX subscriber, you will want to check the guide to see if BEIN was added. Both channels were added here in Vegas this week (164 en espanol 380 English). Best part for non Spanish speakers is English available on all telecasts via SAP on Spanish channel.

So nervous for today's game. If Arsenal lose, they go from first to fourth in one round. That has to be some sort of record at this stage of the season or beyond. Arsenal haven't been able to handle Chelsea for the last 5+ years, so I am not optimistic.

Heard on the radio this morning that the Special One has never lost against Arsenal.

govmentchedda wrote:Heard on the radio this morning that the Special One has never lost against Arsenal.

Sounds about right.


And to make me feel better, here is a clip of Gervinho pulling a Gervinho this week:

just saw alex morgan in a chap stick ad. and earlier tonight i heard an interview with her on counterattack on sirius xm. haven't seen or heard anything about her for months. weird, or marketing?

Looks like it is official, we are going to the winter for the 22 WC.

Former German national team player Thomas Hitzlsperger reveals he's gay.

... which prompted someone to tweet the following (which was retweeted by @iainmacintosh):

@Len_Scap wrote:Must have taken a lot of courage for Thomas Hitzlsperger to admit that he played for Aston Villa.

wlu_lax6 wrote:Looks like it is official, we are going to the winter for the 22 WC.

How's that going to even work? Late 2022? The African Nations cup is already scheduled for January 2023.

degenerasian wrote:

wlu_lax6 wrote:Looks like it is official, we are going to the winter for the 22 WC.

How's that going to even work? Late 2022? The African Nations cup is already scheduled for January 2023.

It's a disaster.

The Sybian wrote:

degenerasian wrote:

wlu_lax6 wrote:Looks like it is official, we are going to the winter for the 22 WC.

How's that going to even work? Late 2022? The African Nations cup is already scheduled for January 2023.

It's a disaster.

What the hell are the European leagues going to do? This could screw up their schedules for a couple of seasons.

From what I have read, FIFA had to quickly come out and deny what their #2 man said. But this is going to be a winter cup. Even UEFA leadership has said for #150 years we have played the fall-spring schedule....Euro leagues can deal with it once in 150 years. But the calendar crowding is real.

However, $$$$$ is the key factor. Fox has already said they are not happy about this. They bid assuming they would have games to show against baseball and not have to compete with their NFL programming.

P.D.X. wrote:Bradley to ... Toronto?

Confirmed. $10 mil to Roma.

Toronto FC finally spending some money, but I just heard a guy at the gym say that they're "doing a Blue Jays."

Whatever, the team is bound to be better than the training academy they ran out each week last season.

I think it's a real Coup for MLS. Bradley is 26 and in his prime. Prying him away from Roma who are 2nd in Serie A is really something.

degenerasian wrote:I think it's a real Coup for MLS. Bradley is 26 and in his prime. Prying him away from Roma who are 2nd in Serie A is really something.

My biggest fear is that if Bradley is simply trying to get regular playing time to prepare for the WC, then the MLS refuses to sell him. That is the worst aspect of the MLS. If they have a big name player, the league simply refuses to allow a team to let him go to Europe.

The Sybian wrote:

degenerasian wrote:I think it's a real Coup for MLS. Bradley is 26 and in his prime. Prying him away from Roma who are 2nd in Serie A is really something.

My biggest fear is that if Bradley is simply trying to get regular playing time to prepare for the WC, then the MLS refuses to sell him. That is the worst aspect of the MLS. If they have a big name player, the league simply refuses to allow a team to let him go to Europe.

Like who?

The Sybian wrote:

degenerasian wrote:I think it's a real Coup for MLS. Bradley is 26 and in his prime. Prying him away from Roma who are 2nd in Serie A is really something.

My biggest fear is that if Bradley is simply trying to get regular playing time to prepare for the WC, then the MLS refuses to sell him. That is the worst aspect of the MLS. If they have a big name player, the league simply refuses to allow a team to let him go to Europe.

With a 10 Mil transfer fee, I can't see the MLS just helping Bradley & the US team for a year. They will have to get some ROI and a 10 Mil transfer is a big number of a Yank.

P.D.X. wrote:
Like who?

Landon Donovan is the biggest name that comes to mind. I recall MLS refusing transfers of other players, I'll look for links, but stupid Multiple Listing Service is clogging up my Googles. I remember a couple instances where the league refused reasonable transfer fees and cost deals to fall through.

The Sybian wrote:

P.D.X. wrote:
Like who?

Landon Donovan is the biggest name that comes to mind. I recall MLS refusing transfers of other players, I'll look for links, but stupid Multiple Listing Service is clogging up my Googles. I remember a couple instances where the league refused reasonable transfer fees and cost deals to fall through.

MLS can be a disaster when it comes to player transfers, I'll give you that. However, Bradley, Altidore, Howard, Friedel, etc. all got transferred to Euro leagues from MLS. (And more recently Freddy Montero and Kei Kamara, but maybe they don't count, because 'Murica.)

P.D.X. wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

P.D.X. wrote:
Like who?

Landon Donovan is the biggest name that comes to mind. I recall MLS refusing transfers of other players, I'll look for links, but stupid Multiple Listing Service is clogging up my Googles. I remember a couple instances where the league refused reasonable transfer fees and cost deals to fall through.

MLS can be a disaster when it comes to player transfers, I'll give you that. However, Bradley, Altidore, Howard, Friedel, etc. all got transferred to Euro leagues from MLS. (And more recently Freddy Montero and Kei Kamara, but maybe they don't count, because 'Murica.)

Yeah, I want top foreign talent to stay and improve the league. Just want top Americans going abroad to improve US soccer, not just for the individual players' growth, but the more Americans can succeed in Europe, the more sought after Americans will be. in the future.

Arsenal condoms. Helps you keep clean sheets.

Was just thinking, there can't be another sports league on the planet that features players on the same team that make a range from $50k to $6mil, right? The disparity in MLS crazy. It would suck to be starting alongside someone who makes 120x what you do.

P.D.X. wrote:Was just thinking, there can't be another sports league on the planet that features players on the same team that make a range from $50k to $6mil, right? The disparity in MLS crazy. It would suck to be starting alongside someone who makes 120x what you do.

Maybe the Australian League?

I wonder what the player's parking lot looks like at an MLS stadium. Smart cars next to Ferraris?

The NBA comes pretty close in certain instances, but that's probably from prorated salaries. An undrafter FA on the lakers can probably expect to make 1/60th of Kobe's salary.

China.

Dario Conca, who plays for Guangdong (The Asian Champions) makes more than Messi.

Non-league team keeps moving on in the FA Cup. Faces Sunderland next.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer ... -wigan.ap/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

degenerasian wrote:

Great ad. It's the first time that Toronto FC has used a specific player in their ads. In the past they hyped the fans and the atmosphere. Which coming off of 7 bad seasons in a row, has not been as exciting as it was in the past.

It was a big deal...and then the Xavi to New York news started.

How does Vancouver's MLS team not get Bradley, lose the Golden Boot winner (who started training with a Liga MX team while under contract), and draft a guy who signed with the NY Cosmos.

wlu_lax6 wrote:How does Vancouver's MLS team not get Bradley, lose the Golden Boot winner (who started training with a Liga MX team while under contract), and draft a guy who signed with the NY Cosmos.

Well at least the guy who signed with the Cosmos is getting loaned back to Vancouver

Sabo wrote:Drunken ManU fan calls 999 (the British equivalent of 911) and asks to speak to Sir Alex Ferguson after their League Cup semifinal loss to Sunderland.

To be fair, ManU is in crisis.

The Sybian wrote:

Sabo wrote:Drunken ManU fan calls 999 (the British equivalent of 911) and asks to speak to Sir Alex Ferguson after their League Cup semifinal loss to Sunderland.

To be fair, ManU is in crisis.

Hey now!

So in today's FA Cup game, Gedion Zelalem came on in the 71st minute. The 16 year old from the DC Metro Area (well he Zelalem is a German of Ethiopian descent who moved to the U.S. when he was nine) became the first player for Arsenal to be play in a match who was born after Wegner became Arsenal's coach.

wlu_lax6 wrote:So in today's FA Cup game, Gedion Zelalem came on in the 71st minute. The 16 year old from the DC Metro Area (well he Zelalem is a German of Ethiopian descent who moved to the U.S. when he was nine) became the first player for Arsenal to be play in a match who was born after Wegner became Arsenal's coach.

US citizen?

P.D.X. wrote:

wlu_lax6 wrote:So in today's FA Cup game, Gedion Zelalem came on in the 71st minute. The 16 year old from the DC Metro Area (well he Zelalem is a German of Ethiopian descent who moved to the U.S. when he was nine) became the first player for Arsenal to be play in a match who was born after Wegner became Arsenal's coach.

US citizen?

Nope, German. He is eligible to play for Germany or Ethiopia at the moment. US fans talk about him naturalizing to become a US citizen, but I don't know if he could qualify. You need to be a Legal Permanent Resident (Greencard holder) for 5 years. No idea if he is maintaining greencard status while living in London. As a German and therefore EU citizen, he does not need a work permit to play/live in the UK. If he became a US citizen, he would have to renounce his German citizenship, as Germany doesn't allow for duel citizenship. By losing citizenship in an EU country, he would have to apply for a work permit, which typically requires a player appear in 75% of his national teams fixtures. This can't happen, unless maybe he plays for Germany's youth team (not sure if that counts) then becomes naturalized.

All of that to say it is extremely unlikely he would ever play for the USMNT. I know exceptions have been made in the past to get athletes naturalized when they don't meet the requirements. I believe it was David Regis was naturalized in a fishy manner in order to become eligible to play for the USMNT. If not outside of the requirements, it was super expedited. I know English fans are also talking about the possibility of him becoming a citizen there since he is living in London. No idea what his thoughts are there. I have read that he feels a connection to Ethiopia, but if he develops into his potential, I can't see him playing for Ethiopia. It'll be fun to see what he does.

P.D.X. wrote:

wlu_lax6 wrote:So in today's FA Cup game, Gedion Zelalem came on in the 71st minute. The 16 year old from the DC Metro Area (well he Zelalem is a German of Ethiopian descent who moved to the U.S. when he was nine) became the first player for Arsenal to be play in a match who was born after Wegner became Arsenal's coach.

US citizen?

Nope. Trained with US U-15 team, Bethesda Soccer Club, Olney Rangers and Walter Johnson HS, but not a citizen. Oh he turned 17 on Sunday and signed a first team contract (technically he was jut an academy kid). US think they have a shot, but I am guessing we lose him to Germany.