2007: A Look Back on the Domestic (e.g. U.S.) Scene

The long-promised look back at 2007 in U.S. soccer unfolds below. The talking points – 15 in all (what? you wanted a Top 10? I’m nothing like that disciplined; see, I slipped to 17) – come in, at best, half-random order; put another way, I ranked these things a certain way, but [...]

EPL Weekend: Boca scores, United falls, Arsenal pushes forward

Saturday, December 29th, 2007 
Tottenham 6, Reading 4
You almost HAVE to start out with this one as weird results such as this one don’t come around to often in the EPL. Dimitar Berbatov had 4 of the 6 Spurs’ goals and reiterated after the game that he was poised to leave come the New Year because he still thought Tottenham [...]

Phil O’Donnell dies in Scottish Premier Match

35 year old Motherwell midfielder Phil O’Donnell died after collapsing on the field during Motherwell’s victory against Dundee United.
Ian from the Offside has more on the story here.
It’s tragic that another player has fallen on the field.    In September, Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta died after collapsing on the field, regaining conciousness, then collapsing again in the [...]

Catalunya vs Euskal Herria–When Language, Culture and Football mix in Spain

Spanish football is never short of passion. Real Madrid-Barcelona ‘clasicos’ divide families and towns in two when these teams meet twice a year in the Spanish La Liga. The Sevilla-Betis derby literally divides the city of Sevilla in two just like the Barcelona-Espanyol and Levante-Valencia matches. The passion felt in these [...]

The Eleven Best of 2007

With 2007 coming to a close, French paper L’Equipe has put together their annual 11 best players of the year.
The eleven players selected this year are:
Buffon
Dani Alves–Vidic–Gallas–Evra
Kaka–Cesc Fabergas–Gerrard–C. Ronaldo
Drogba–Van Nistelrooy
League Breakdown:
Premiership-7 players
La Liga-2 players
Serie A-2 players
Who do you think got left out?  Didn’t deserve to be in there?
Simply based on the orgies, Cristiano Ronaldo is [...]

La Liga Para Todos Dec 28-Muppets, Ronaldinho leaving and Transfer window

–Any article that begins with ‘Juan Soler is a Muppet‘ really gets my attention. The Valencia Offside does a great job of tracking all of the Che’s moves. With most of their legendary players getting the gate as of late, apparently some are not getting the pink slip, but rather will simply [...]

Sevilla FC Supporters Club–Information Here and I’m Being Interviewed on Spanish Radio

The Asociación Sevillista Puerta de America (aka Sevilla FC Peña (or Penya))  is now up and running.  If ANYONE is interested, please shoot me an email at rjknapp19 at gmail [dot] com and I’ll email you back info and attach you to the mailing list.  Here is what’s new with us so far.

We’ve been approved [...]

EPL Daily 12.28: Dorman finds home in SPL? (I know, I know), Barton the Convict

CONVICT BARTON: Joey Barton has done it again. This time, I don’t feel like commenting. So there. This to go with terrible Newcastle form, Big Sam Allardyce teetering on the edge of unemployment…Newcastle really does have some sort of curse.
BIANCHI: Rolando Bianchi has hit out at English culture, cuisine, referees, and his teammates in his latest [...]

EPL: Boxing Day Recap and Quick Facts! Read On!

Chelsea 4, Aston Villa 4
The Battle of Stamford Bridge yielded three red cards and eight goals. The end result sees Chelsea still clawing to stay near the leaders, Man Utd and Arsenal. It started pretty for Martin O’Neill and the Villans as Shaun Maloney – seen to be shipped off to Scotland soon - secured his place [...]

EPL Daily 12.26: Happy Holidays! And some Dempsey, Beckham, Boxing Day, etc.

Thank you to all that come here every once in a while to read what we got to say. It’s Boxing Day and we’re in for a good day of soccer (going on as I share these headlines with you).
DUECE: Clint Dempsey struck for his 6th goal of the season in (the game is close [...]