European Soccer Part XIII

[Bob Gray]

It's official. Michael Owen is a galactico! So Real can't get the defensive midfielder they need in Vieira, so instead of finding another one, they buy yet another striker! Typical Real Madrid. It'll be interesting to see who plays among Ronaldo, Raul, Owen, and Morientes! And although I won't miss Owen in the sense of seeing him threaten the beat Arsenal singlehandedly, as he did in the FA Cup a few years ago, he was one of the EPL's signature players, and it won't be as fun to not have him around. But I'm not sure how he'll fit in in Madrid, so who knows, maybe he'll be back in a year or two.

[Terrierbyassociation]

I can't get past how horrible this deal is. But hey, Owen can learn from the best divers in the world in La Liga.

[Jon]

I hate Real. They just eclipsed Bayern in my pantheon of hatred...

1. Real
2. Bayern
3. ManU(re)
4. The Team currently impersonating Rangers :D

[nubobcat]

Good Triple header of epl action on FSW tomorrow

[MavrckMngr]

Fowler puts one past Van Der Sar 27 minutes in and it's 1-0 City over Fulham at the half-hour mark. So far, so good.

[Bob Gray]

Interesting match with Spurs and Liverpool, ending 1-1. Liverpool looked the better, but, in a move that was reminiscent of Houllier, Benitez took off Cisse with close to half an hour left in a defensive move and Defoe prompty tied it up for Spurs.

[3W]

Villa up 2-0 over Southampton. Is it possible that Villa might be even better this year?

[MavrckMngr]

MCFC's back to last year's form, I'm sad to say. Total domination in the first half and Keegan inexplicably plays for a tie. Anybody who tells you it's easy to be a Blue is lying through their teeth. Gawd do I hate that man.

Brighter notes: Aside from the goal, James had a pretty good outing once Fulham found their legs, and Reyna didn't play too badly either. Credit to Anelka for the feed to Fowler on City's goal; hopefully he's in for a better year.

[Terrierbyassociation]

Charlton is getting killed 4-1 in the 82nd.

[Don King]

Got a late start, but saw my first two goals of the 0405 EPL season. The first was a penalty from Alan Shearer to put Newcastle up 2-1 on Boro. Shearer's now 50-for-51 from the spot in the EPL, or something else outrageous like that. Liverpool fans who've seen Michael Owen go about 5-for-37 are no doubt sickened by such statistics. :)

The second was Boro's equalizer in the 90th minute, courtesy of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink punching one in with his elbow after somebody else (didn't see who) was offside and whiffed on the cross. Two good reasons to rule that one out, but the ref took neither, and Newcastle sticks to last season's form by drawing 2-2.

[MavrckMngr]

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/list.asp?hlid=219624&cpid=5&CLID=&lid=15&title=Greeks+punished+by+Uefa

Looks like Tel Aviv is a shoo-in for the group stage in CL.

[Jon]

I don't know where they got this ranking system from but I like the results... :D

http://www.iffhs.de/

[Don King]

Originally posted by Jon
I don't know where they got this ranking system from but I like the results... :D

http://www.iffhs.de/

If only that wasn't the stupidest ranking system of all time. :D

[MavrckMngr]

Arsenal wins easily at Goodison Park 4-1, no big surprise there, but West Ham loses 3-1 at the hands of Wigan...sign of things to come for the Hammers?

[Warrior51]

What do you think of the Dallas Burn changing their name to FC Dallas. I have mixed feelings about it. It sounds cool and the logo is pretty good.

I am not thrilled about the MLS adding a second team in Los Angeles. It robbed another soccer hungry city of a potential team. Why does LA always have to be greedy? Had two football teams but lost both, thank god. They have two baseball teams, 2 basketball teams, two hockey teams and now two soccer teams? That's crap!

Go Revolution!

[MavrckMngr]

If you want to complain about stealing an MLS franchise from a deserving city, try Salt Lake. I cannot see a team surviving there.

As for the whole FC Dallas thing, I'm fine with it. There are days where I wish you didn't have to have the nickname at the end, like you don't see in other leagues in the world, so I think it's a good thing. Nice little touch to go along with the new stadium.

[Warrior51]

I sort of like the idea of FC Dallas.
And the idea of no team names could be good but also gives the team an indentity. For instance I love the New England Revolution.

As for Salt Lake City, not a great choice, but not a bad choice.
LA with another team is crap. Should have gone to San Diego or Houston/San Antonio.

Salt Lake City should have gone to Seattle, Toronto or even to the Charleston Battery or Rochester Raging Rhinos and make them a Division One club.

[FerrisLives]

Salt Lake isn't bad. There is no baseball or football to compete with MLS there. Just the Jazz and Mountain West conference sports. IMO they should have added both Salt Lake and Seattle, not just one. The league could have been successful in both. And while 13 teams is an unusual number for scheduling purposes they could have made it work.

[Warrior51]

Originally posted by FerrisLives
Salt Lake isn't bad. There is no baseball or football to compete with MLS there. Just the Jazz and Mountain West conference sports. IMO they should have added both Salt Lake and Seattle, not just one. The league could have been successful in both. And while 13 teams is an unusual number for scheduling purposes they could have made it work.

The MLS is planning to add two more teams in 2006, bringing the league total to 14.

[Rhett]

Salt Lake surprises me... I had been following expansion news pretty closely until the last couple of months, and the frontrunners to be #12 seemed to be Cleveland, Oklahoma City, and Rochester. Rochester seems to be the most worthy, if they can get past the stigma they have as a AAA city.