Tag Archives: lyon

ten words or less #66

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Tottenham's Clint Dempsey celebrates scoring against Manchester United

deuce earned his stripes against united once again.

From this American fan’s perspective, the long holiday weekend that’s just passed us by was quite a good one.

Saturday’s fixtures were chock full of goals, averaging just over three and half per match. Then on  #EpicSunday2 (© Fox Soccer Channel) with an entertaining Gunners loss to Chelsea and a gutsy, come-from-behind draw for Spurs against Manchester United. And with a whole additional day to recover after spending Sunday at the pub watching it all go down — not to mention being able to squeeze in a few hours of skiing on Saturday night — I would be hard pressed to design a better weekend for myself.

So with some bigger things around the corner still needing some attention and final polish, this seems like the perfect time to share some of my favorite links from the last week.

The European Transfer Market: Visualized. - transferwindow.info

Greeting fans through your car sunroof isn’t the best idea. – theoriginalwinger.com

Il Fenomeno finally get’s his move to England. – guardian.co.uk

Well look who’s decided he wants to play this year. – lagalaxy.com

Footballer lowered into a well to save a little girl. – dailymail.co.uk

Ferguson has bigger issues than Zeki Fryers move to Spurs. – espnfc.com

Like Rapinoe, I wish more USWNT players would move abroad.
- prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com

Ronaldinho get’s his own, footie-themed Bollywood Space Jam. – indiaglitz.com

If MLB ran soccer teams… their kits could be AWESOME. – kckrs.com

Adu now looking for his 9th club in 9 years. – soccerbyives.com

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new york, prepare for a french invasion

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Normally when you hear about the French invading New York, many will quickly think of the masses of designers that descend upon the Big Apple for the city’s ritzy Fashion Week. If you’re not a fashionista and rather a historian, you might be thinking about the French and Indian War of the 1750′s — though those occurred in the upstate regions rather than within the city itself. If neither of those came to mind, it’s possible you were thinking about the weird flash-mob picnic, called the Dîner en Blanc, that popped up in NYC last August.

French Trophee Des Champions 2012

unlike your average european club game played in the states, this one will actually count for something.

But to be honest, none of those are events that this blog is really that interested in. So why then am I talking about the French invading New York? Well this summer, French football will be invading New York… well at least Harrison, New Jersey. Close enough, right?

For the first time ever, a competitive French professional soccer match will be played in the United States. The Trophée des Champions — the French cousin to England’s Charity Shield or Spain’s Supercopa — will be hosted at Red Bull Arena on Saturday, July 28th, 2012. It just so happens to be the first major silverware awarded in the French season, so it’s kind of a big deal. And since this is the fist time it’s been held outside of a predominantly French-speaking city, much is being made of the momentous occasion.

So what French sides will be leading the invasion? Facing off in the match will be last year’s Cinderella Ligue 1 champions, Montpellier HSC, who be squaring off against perennial power and Coupe de France winners, Olympique Lyonnais.

Montpellier will be lead by star names such as their captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, French international Olivier Giroud, and Moroccan hot-shot Younes Belhanda… assuming none of them are eventually sold between now and then. Fresh off the best season in club history, La Paillade will be fighting tooth over the summer and nail to hold on to the youngsters that helped them lift their first ever Ligue 1 title.

Meanwhile, Lyon are hoping to bounce back from what they would consider to be a lousy 2012/12 campaign. Having finished fourth, their lowest finish since the 1997/98 season, Les Gones were spared further embarrassment when they barely nicked third-tier, semi-pro Quevilly in the Coupe Final 1-0. Lyon’s gauntlet of stars will include French internationals Hugo Lloris and Yoann Gourcuff, as well as internationals such as Brazil’s Michel Bastos and Argentina’s Lisandro López.

Napoleon at Red Bull Arena

how the french plan to storm the harrison, nj, stronghold is still yet to be determined. but i wouldn’t be surprised if it involved a short man on a horse.

Who’s going to win? Assuming they will cash in on some of the more lauded assests, I’m guessing a depleted Montpellier side will struggle against a hungry Lyon outfit looking to redeem themselves. But as with everything in football, anything is possible bigger surprises have happened.

Regardless the outcome, opportunities to watch a European match stateside that actually mean something are few and far between. And if you want to seize the opportunity and are interested in joining the French invasion in late July, be sure to peep TDC-NYC.com for tickets and additional info.

And for a limited time, you can also enter to win FREE tickets to the match. Navigate your browser to the match link in the paragraph above for a chance to win 2 club seats, an all-Inclusive food and beverage package and 2 mini Adidas game balls!

wrong side XI: offensive center mid

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this is part IX in the “wrong side XI” series, where i’ll be selecting my very own starting eleven, assuming of course that i could choose any player from any team in the world. you can read the rules i’ll be following to make my team selection, and what formation i’ll be squeezing them into, on the first post in the series.

this collection of mighty mites will do battle for the honor of my starting offensive midfield spot.

Off all the positional choices for the wrong side XI series that I compiled since the beginning of the summer, my offensive mid selection has probably fluctuated more than any of the others. Of the five “lucky” men that managed to make this shortlist, all of them have occupied the top spot at least once or twice since I began work on this project. So as you might have guessed, making my final selection has been very, very difficult.

Complicating the issue is that all five of these players has been in phenomenal form over the last 18 months. They’re often one of the first names on their respective club’s teamsheets each match day, and are by far some of the most visible players on the field during those matches. Each is the central creative force for their club, and their play often dictates the fate of the outcome of the matches in which they take part.

Part of me wishes I could just pick them all. Hell, if I were to abandon the game plan I lined out in the first post in this series, and instead replaced it with a system akin to Barcelona’s interchangeable top four, I almost could have.

Unfortunately for no one but me, that’s not how I want to run my imaginary team. so we’ll have to narrow this down to just one midfield wizard… follow my thought process after the jump.

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ten words or less #23

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#MLS4RSL: get behind history

click above to join the movement of american fans supporting real salt lake

while the world’s footballing attention is rightfully focused on the bright lights of the europe’s almost-biggest stage this week, let us not forget that the biggest game in north american soccer takes place this week too (1opm est, fox soccer channel). so as we all try to digest both champions leagues’ actions and results this week, here are some of the best links i’ve found in the last few days.

american fans MUST watch this match tomorrow night. - usdish.com

adidas’ excellent retro-influenced lyon kit. – footballshirtculture.com

i do not make very much money. - theoffside.com

an american training at la masia?! there is a god! - ontd-football.livejournal.com

does neil lennon know this is essentially a death wish? - dirty tackle @ yahoo.com

darron gibson’s twitter massacre. – thejournal.ie

a melting pot of hope for the future. – runofplay.com

champions league knockout rounds visualized. – hyperakt.com

wrong side XI: goalkeeper

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this is part II in the “wrong side XI” series, where i’ll be selecting my very own starting eleven, assuming of course that i could choose any player from any team in the world. you can read the rules i’ll be following to make my team selection, and what formation i’ll be squeezing them into, on the first post in the series.

reina, casillas, hart, lloris and howard all make my shortlist.

There was a position that I didn’t address in my first post, but let’s be honest… it’s the only position on the pitch that is never really affected by formation changes. I’m talking about the man at the back guarding the sticks: the goalkeeper.

When I first started the project of picking my first XI, I thought that picking a goalkeeper would be one of the hardest spots in my line up to fill.  It’s not like picking for your marking backs, where if you like two players about the same, you can pretty much start them both. After all, only one keeper plays at a time.

On top of the difficult task of selecting a single man to fill this spot, you also have to be cognizant of the reliability and mental strength of the player you end up selecting. Keepers face monumental amounts of pressure, often facing complete blame for conceded goals that should rightly be blamed on the poor defending in front of them. And while everyone makes mistakes from time to time (england will forgive you, Robert Green), your goalie should be able to bounce back from his mistakes and learn from them.

So who makes the cut? Listed below are the candidates that i considered to fill my number one.

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ten words or less #21

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a.c. milan's robinho wearing adidas adizeros against bologna.

what's wrong with this picture? lots if you ask nike.

it’s the monday of a huge champions league match week, and i’m frustratingly behind on posts at the moment. in lieu of leaving my dedicated readers nothing to read, i’ve provided the following selection of interesting articles from the last week. be sure to check back again soon, as this should be a pretty busy week at wrong side of the pond.

this makes some sense, but will never happen. – wsj.com

while we don’t throw bananas, america still loves discriminating too. – unprofessionalfoul.com

robinho is either a moron or just needs better advisors. - footy-boots.com

they’ve jumped NINETY places in the fifa rankings. – guardian.co.uk

everyone loves my favorite formation. – tomwfootball.com

sometimes i wish april fools stories were real. – caughtoffside.com

sponsorships of this kind should die. – avoidingthedrop.com

cheating. immoral. rape? united circumventing transfer rules. – unitedrant.com

take THAT, england!

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it feels like the apocalypse is upon us, and judgment day must be just around the corner. i’m not exactly what you would consider a man of religion, but i think the bible might just confirm my fears in revelations 6:12…

when he opened the sixth seal, i looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and no english side will reach the champions league semifinals.

i mean how can you possibly ignore this!? it’s prophecy… it’s infallible… the end is near!

well, we knew fergie would bitch if an english side didn't make the last four of the champions league.

ok, so maybe i doctored that bible passage.

well, that’s what the english press would have you believe. both manchester united an arsenal were dispatched this week in the quarters, meaning that there isn’t a single side from the premier league left in this year’s edition of the champions league.

after three straight years with three english teams in the semifinals, it almost feels unnatural to be deprived of an english presence in the final four. however, the so-called “english dominance” created considerable ire on the continent, as many believed that the influx of money into the british game was creating a power vacuum in the game’s greatest club tournament.

but since none of the big four are still competing for a chance to play in this year’s final, what in the world is uefa president michel platini going to cry about now? oh yeah.

personally, i’m more than fine with this development. the last time we saw semi-final matchups sans-english teams was in in 2003 (a.c. milan, inter, juventus and real madrid). even better news about this year’s edition is that it features four teams from four different countries (the last time this happened was in 2004, featuring porto, monaco, chelsea and deportivo la coruña).

so for me, this year’s tournament has become infinitely more intriguing.  well it’s intriguing so long as we’re not discussing who will win, because that one is a simple pick… lyon barcelona.

hopefully, england’s semi-final no show will also end all of the snobbery permeating from the british isles and the EPL fanboys the world over. it’s kinda hard to claim you’re the best league in the world when you can’t even put a team into the continental championships last four, wouldn’t you think?

with england's big 4 out of the champions league, barcelona look set to become the first team to ever defend their champions league crown.

i really think there is only one downfall about the lack of british presence at this stage , and that has to do with potential tv ratings. here in the states and, more importantly, in asia the premier league and it’s sides are the most popular league and teams in the world. after finally beating out the nfl’s super bowl last year for the title of the most watched annual sporting event, will a final lacking an english side mean the champions league will surrender its new found crown?

i don’t know the answer to that question. but as far as the competition on the field is concerned, the lack of english teams for the first time in a long, this is a really good thing. all four of the other big five leagues (spain, italy, germany and france) are represented.

it’s a clear sign that the premier league hasn’t pulled as far ahead of the other domestic leagues as platini likes to make us all think. and even if the premier league is raking in more money than the others combined (i doubt this is true, but uefa’s president makes me feel that it is), it goes to show that the so-called “minnows” are capable of knocking off the big dogs.

and if english football fnas are looking for the golden lining in this otherwise upsetting scenario, perhaps this can be good news for the country this summer. with all of the luck seemingly sapped away from their domestic league, maybe this means their good luck is shifting over to the three lions just in time for the world cup.

well, probably not… but we have to keep these hooligans looking forward to something.