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Soccer Sunday: Your Running Commentary

BenitezWenger (Reuters)

Of all the enticing soccer matches on tap today, maybe none is as exciting or intriguing as Liverpool vs. Arsenal.

Between Rafa Benitez's career deathwatch and Wenger's own recent dust-ups, the two long-term managers have had their troubles with a season that hasn't quite gone according to plan for either.

While Liverpool-Arsenal has its subplots, other matches have trophies on the line. The NCAA College Cup Final between Virginia and Akron kicks off today, as does the second leg of the Mexican Apertura Final between Cruz Azul and Morelia.

Need a little more European soccer in your life? Look no further than Sampdoria-Roma and Bordeaux Lyon for excitement.

If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today's soccer TV schedule is after the jump).

Today's Soccer on TV

11am- FSC, FSE- Liverpool vs. Arsenal

1pm- GolTV- Atletico Madrid vs. Villarreal

11am- ESPN360.com, ESPN Deportes- Almeria vs. Deportivo La Coruna

11am- Directv- Osasuna vs. Mallorca

1pm- ESPN2- NCAA Men's College Cup Final (Virginia vs. Akron)

1pm- ESPN Deportes- FSV Mainz vs. VfB Stuttgart (delayed)

1:15pm- Setanta Sports- PSG vs. Saint-Etienne

2:45pm- FSC- Sampdoria vs. AS Roma

3pm- ESPN360.com, ESPN Deportes- Sporting Gijon vs. Sevilla

3pm- Setanta Sports- Olympique Lyon vs. Bordeaux

5pm- FSE- Sampdoria vs. AS Roma (delayed)

6pm- Azteca America- Cruz Azul vs. Monterrey

10pm- Setanta Sports- Manchester United vs. Aston Villa (delayed)

Comments

  1. Virginia always plays for pks. That’s just their game. Wake Forest would have been a much better aggressor to match Akron in their game.

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  2. in regards to the college cup final. it looked to me that Akron was the aggressor from 2nd half on. They played to win where as Virginia were just hoping to get to pk’s. Akron final third struggles were not helped with Amkpai playing on one leg and Nanchoff being out, they have 19 asst between them. congrats to virginia for winnning and defending well

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  3. re: the College Cup

    I was quite underwhelmed with Tchani. he’s a big, physical guy who gets around well, but his nonchalance playing the ball in the middle of the park was very disappointing. if that’s how he always plays, i think a spot along the backline would suit him better.

    i was quietly rooting for akron, but then was delighted that Gavin was the one to blow it. that kid spent the entire game covering a patch of grass that was literally 8′ X 8′. when akron were in possession, he simply stood with his arms in the air, berating teammates to get him the ball. in defense, he had massive positional problems and was a big reason uva was able to play through on occasion.

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  4. The defensive struggle is to be expected with Virginia. If Akron had played Wake Forest, whose possession oriented game is probably the best in the nation, the result could have looked much different.

    And let’s be real here – Akron had 50 minutes of play with a man up against UNC and couldn’t score either.

    Akron’s a great team, but the comments on here by some to the effect of “they’ll dominate the ACC” were proved flat wrong.

    I was at the College Cup, Guy Gayle. I know how hte games were played.

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  5. Since there is a good possibility the Zips will win and go undefeated, your condemnation is premature at best.

    Both Zip strikers died at 70 minutes. If they keep running the full 90, Akron will win I believe.

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  6. How many goals did those offensive juggernaut ACC teams score in response?

    Zip.

    Akron couldn’t find a through ball, and that’s what killed them. However, they were pretty damn good at possession and dictating tempo.

    Caleb might engage in that greatest team ever b.s., but your whitewashing of the how these games played out is just as full and swarming with flies.

    The best the ACC had to offer were just as scoreless.

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  7. Akron had great possession, but just couldn’t pull the trigger in the final third.

    Very low-scoring College Cup: 3 goals scored in 3 games, and all came in the UVA v. WF semi-final. All three games went into overtime.

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  8. For anyone interested:

    Universitario vs Alianza Lima derby live from Lima, Peru streaming on rojadirecta.com

    80K souls making one hell of an atmosphere.

    La U wins, they win title. Alianza wins, a third and final game is played in Cusco, Peru.

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  9. Ouch. Greatest-team-ever Akron goes scoreless in 220 minutes of soccer against ACC teams. If Akron had played in the ACC this year, they would have been in the top half, but that’s about all that can be said.

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  10. Great win for the Arsenal and I’m certainly happy for it, but man do we need a new goalkeeper. Almunia is just not getting it done, another awful performance from him.

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  11. Anyone who wants Rafa out — the same Rafa who took his team to 2 Champions League finals and won an FA Cup — is crazy. Liverpool has spent a lot of £, it’s true, but for the amount they have spent they’ve “punched above their weight” for several years. Rafa desperately wanted Arshavin but the owners wouldn’t pay up for him last season….this is the same Arshavin who has almost singlehandedly demolished Liverpool for 5 goals at Anfield in 2 games.

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  12. Considering the absolutely miserable conditions in Cary, both teams doing pretty well with possession and passing. Good defensive struggle and I like how the ref just lets the kids play.

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  13. A college comment: I have been happy with the tactical aspects of the games I have seen in the tournament. Very little “big guys kick, little guys run” stuff. There has been a lot of possession, short passing. Maybe NCAA is developing.

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  14. Fantastic win for Arsenal. About time they win a game when they aren’t playing well. I’m still nowhere near convinced we can seriously challenge the title but its a start.

    Any Liverpool fan wanting Rafa out is is laughable.

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  15. Huge victory for Arsenal. Liverpool had a legit call for a penalty against Gerard, but that’s not why they lost the match. I’m amazed at how quickly the fight went out of them after the equalizer went in. That’s more of an indictment of Rafa than anything else: A team with this much talent is EXPECTING to lose.

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  16. It seems to me that most people use Hicks and Gillette as the fall guys. They havee spent and brought in players. Rafa just is too stubborn to use them (e.g. Aquilani and Robbie Keane). Rafa wants to win his way, which is fine if you win, but he has been losing everything this year. Plus, he is insubordinate to Hicks and Gillette, and generally seems like a jerk. Rafa needs to be fired.

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  17. i dont think its entirely rafa’s fault cause i do think gillette and hicks use him as something like a fall guy which he then in turn tries to do with them. that being said hes tried to turn lemons into lemonade with people like kuyt as mentioned above and his loyalty to them costs liverpool because people like kuyt, benayoun, riera played just well enough where you can’t kick them out of the team but they just aren’t good enough to win it. other teams like manchester united and chelsea use those types of players off the bench in secondary roles at best, not main ones. also i think it was silly when alonso left to buy a midfielder to replace him in the 4-2-3-1. that formation was created because rafa had alonso, gerrard, mascherano and not enough striking talent so he came up with it. when he got rid of rafa he shouldve moved gerrard back to CM (because that’s what he is, the best two way midfielder in the game) and bought a physical strike partner for torres whose problem is that he IS willing to do the dirty work. having him play as a target man half the time is like taking a bentley off-roading. they shouldve been the ones making a move for fabiano or dzeko and adding a little wide talent like juan mata wouldn’t have hurt. if anyone thinks jose mourinho’s mouth isn’t watering at the thought of rafa getting axed then you’re crazy and i think he’s the right man to do it

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  18. liverpool spends more time worrying about physicality than any team i’ve seen: complaining, diving, embellishing

    they could score a lot of goals if they were actually trying to score at all costs instead of falling over at the first sign of contact

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  19. They’ve spent buckets of money for Rafa during his tenure. They won that fluke Champions League title and that is it. Given the budget of the team and the size of their roster, Rafa simply hasn’t done enough to warrant keeping his job.

    Personally, I love it because I’ve always felt they were grossly over-rated. However, I will say that they have plenty of talent to succeed, they just underperform. Kuyt is worthy of playing on a Top-4 team…all players don’t need to be ‘world class’ whatever that means. You just need a side that works together….the scousers are not doing that and Rafa is a memory after this game.

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  20. Problem with liverpool is their selection of talent… Kuyt= not world class, ngog= not world class, i mean if either player were american, they would have been sent back to the MLS right now. It’s funny how in the NBA we bend over backwards for Europeans and look sideways to find their talent, whereas in europe it’s the other way for soccer. I don’t care if Kuyt has scored goals in his career. I hate landon donovan, and donovan is faster, has better ball control, and would have done more in Kuyt’s position if he had been givin the opportunity. I’ve hated liverpool for years, so I’m not saying this is objective… but still they need to reevaluate their scouting, and maybe stop listening to their fans… (rafa out, Klinsmann in… bring in some brazilians or something)

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  21. Super goal.

    Arshavin will soon be on the list of Top 10 Greatest Footballers who Smoked. Good company with Cruyff, Zidane & Sir Bobby Charlton!

    Keep it up, Arsenal.

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  22. Is there any way Arsenal and Livepool could both lose this match? Not draw, but actually lose, so that neither team picked up any points. That would be swell.

    Sincerely,
    A Villa Fan

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