Love this picture, Tim Howard’s goal against Bolton. Bolton’s GK Adam Bogdan was the victim. Unfortunately on the night Everton lost 2 – 1. What happens this weekend is one of the special FA Cup 4th Round games this weekend.
Welcome to this Weekends Commentary Thread. This weekend promises to be full of action and surprises. We began the weekend on Friday. Jozy Altidore and AZ thumped VVV Venlo 4 – 1, Jozy scored the 3rd goal (highlights here) for highlights. In the Bundesliga, Timothy Chandler and Nurnberg were on the receiving end of the thumping as they fell 3 – 0 to Dortmund. The shock of the day came in the opening of the FA Cup 4th Round as Aston Villa and Eric Lichaj were beaten by championship side Millwall 2 – 1, rumors abound now that Paul Lambert the Villa manager will soon be looking for other employment.
So on to today. More FA Cup action and the possibility of more upsets. Stoke will be taking on Manchester City in what is probably the game of the round and we can expect to see Geoff Cameron facing the current EPL champs. Besides Stoke and the aforementioned Everton/Bolton clash, Derby, Middlesbrough and Leicester will be looking to advance into the next round. Tottenham and a red hot Clint Dempsey will visit Leeds on Sunday with an expectation of a 5th round appearance.
Around Europe there is a full plate of games in Germany, where we have Augsburg hosting Schalke, and Eintracht hosting Hoffenheim amongst the menu of Bundesliga games. 3 Liga also is active this week after the winter break and will require watching. Bundesliga 2 will restart its season next Friday Unfortunately Regionalliga, which also restarted this week, has had all of its games postponed, so we will have to wait a little longer for some of the new, American players to debut. In Belgium, Sacha Kljestan and Anderlecht will be defending their 8 point Pro League lead against 3rd place Lokeren. Following a good performance, albeit in a losing cause, by Maurice Edu a start for Bursaspor looks likely as they tackle Istanbul in the Turkish Super Liga’s early game.
Sunday see’s the continuation of the FA Cup, plus Roma and Michael Bradley start the day in Italy Serie A as they travel to Bologna, and Malaga go to Majorca in the Spanish Primera. Beside these we have games in Israel, Portugal, England and a little more from Germany.
All in all a pretty full weekend of games to follow, chat about and give opinions on. There is a lot more going on in the world of footy so lets hear from you.
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Waiting on Liverpool to announce their 18 for their clash with Oldham. Wonder if young US hopeful Marc Pelosi will make the 18
Coming up on final 15 minutes at Elland Road – close – will Leeds hang on? or will Dempsey and Co. find that needed goal?
Friedel saves the day again…..almost 3 for Leeds (73)
Tweet from @ShakaHislop
Friedel still one of the best in the league for me (I know this is the Cup).
Agreed.
Dempsey looking for a hand-ball call – nope say’s the ref (75)
Marc Pelosi did not make the 18 (and his 1st team debut) for Liverpool today, as was hoped.
getting a little tense now 2 cards in 2 minutes ( 1 each team) 10 minutes to go….come on Deuce, make it 2!!!
At this stage the game can go either way Spurs pressing can punch in a goal, but the long ball/breakout strategy of Leeds has worried the Spurs defense all game and they could easily leak a late goal
Almost over and the FA Cup could be claiming another EPL club’s downfall (90)
That’s it..Tottenham are out of the FA Cup!!!!
Leeds 2 – 1 Tottenham
You gotta think that Leeds probably deserved the win as well.
Tottenham need a big forward(target man)with Adebayor out, there’s just punch, and lets face it, Tottenham are no Barcelona that they can play without forwards.
The last FA Cup 4th round game starts shortly as Oldham try to be the giant killer this time v Liverpool
The draw for the FA Cup 5th Round will be held later today.
Wow… Liverpool down 3 min. in. What a day.
You have got to love the FA Cup…no matter who you support it is truly a great competition. The smaller clubs get there chance, the big boys gamble on the 2nd tier players, upsets are guaranteed, every round.
And there you have it League 1 side Oldham score in 3 mins, and lead the Mighty and Historic Liverpool (if only for a little while there is hope and dreams for the Oldham fans)
Love it.
Kyle you are right, brother. League 1 Brentford hold Chelsea, Championship Leeds beat Tottenham, and now Oldham lead Liverpool…#whataday
OK I said yesterday that I would review some of the leagues around the world. Lets start with Holland and specifically AZ Alkmaar.
AZ have been on a run lately, Jozy Altidore has had a lot to say about that. they have moved up after a weak first half of the season and now find themselves in the last playoff position for a European place (there is one game still going on between NEC and Groningen, either could overtake AZ today) AZ are 3 – 1 – 1 over the past 5 games, and if they can continue form they should end the season in a position to battle for a Europa League spot. Speculation is high that Jozy will leave AZ this summer so our only US representative in Holland’s elite may not be there next season for any European campaign.
In Belgium, Anderlecht, barring a total meltdown, have essentially won the league already. Sasha Kljestan will see UCL football next season, if he stays. After this weekends results Anderlecht are 8 points clear of Zulte-Waregem, and on an 11 game win streak, that looks never ending. Anderlecht handily beat the 3rd place team this weekend which pushes Lokeren 12 points off 1st place, and unlikely to catch Anderlecht. At this point in time it looks like a battle to 2nd place. Then of course the bizarre playoff system in Belgium will take place and who knows what will happen.
FYI: Playoff System
Teams 1 – 6 playoff for UCL
Teams 7 – 14 playoff for Europa League
Teams 15 – 16 playoff for relegation
So in a 16 team league every team is in a playoff of one sort or another (go figure)
In Germany; As widely believed Bayern Munich has already won (much like Anderlecht in Belgium)and the battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots are where the real excitement will come from this year.
From our American perspective, Mainz, Schalke and Hannover are all pretty much stuck in the middle of the pack, although in fairness both Mainz and Schalke have a shot at Europa league places, only 2 points separate Mainz #5 from Hamburg #9 (and Hannover are just 4 points off. So competition for Euro places is hot.
3 of the bottom 4 teams have American interest. Nurnberg and Timothy Chandler should survive they are 8 points out of the bottom 3. Michael Parkhurst and Augsburg and Hoffenheimerica are both on 13 points from 19 games and either could join last place Greuther Furth in 2.Bundesliga next season. Both have used the winter break and January transfer window to bolster there survival chances. Augsburg have made changes to their formation from a 442 to 4141 with good results so far. Augsburg had 9 points for the first half of the season, already in 2013 they have 4 points from 2 games. They are still 8 points behind Nurnberg and safety, but look ripe to make a move up. Hoffenheim are just floundering. They have just,over the past few days,brought in defensive help which may effect the number of games that Danny Williams sees and have added some offense that I categorize as “wait and see”. As a victim of their own success the loss of quality players at the end of last season really has not been addressed as well as it might have been by Hoffenheim’s management and the lack of balance between youth and experience is evident (the oldest forward is 24, the youngest 18)and whether or not the youthful side can survive in Bundesliga is in question. IMHO Hoffenheim are the most likely to take the drop with Greuther Furth.
So OK just finished those small pieces on European Leagues and looky here! Oldham are up 2 – 1 – who would have thunk it?
Another upset maybe ? hard to fathom.
Hmmm, make that 3 – 1 Oldham over Liverpool
WOW!
Caleb Patterson-Sewell is on the bench today for Vitoria Setubal in Portugal’s Primeira League.
As expected (see entry above about Holland) NEC won today and moved into 7th place in Eredivisie, moving AZ out of the final playoff position for Europe. Still plenty of time for Jozy and AZ to advance up the table.
That’s it yet another upset, another EPL toppled
Oldham 3 – 2 Liverpool
Rafa and Rogers must be really frustrating their prospective owners
FA Cup 5th Round (Draw)
Huddersfield/Leicester v Wigan (good match for Leicester and Zak Whitbread if they get past Huddersfield)
MK Dons v Barnsley
Oldham v Everton – despite Oldham’s heroics against Liverpool you have to favor Everton and Tim Howard
Luton v Millwall
Arsenal v Blackburn
Manchester City v Leeds
Manchester United v Reading
Middlesbrough v Chelsea/Brentford – Seb Hines and Middlesbrough will be wishing for a Brentford upset
And that’s the 16 teams in 8 games of the FA Cup 5th Round
Break Time for me…….be back later