Can anybody stop Wayne Rooney?
We will find out today in the weekend's marquee match, with Manchester United visiting Arsenal at the Emirates. The winner of today's match will close the gap on first-place Chelsea while the loser will be at least four points back.
While Arsenal-Man Utd is the high-profile match of the day, the most important match of the day takes place in Angola, where Egypt faces Ghana in the African Cup of Nations Final. The match isn't on TV, but you shouldn't have trouble finding a feed for it on the internet.
If you will be watching any of 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
6:30am- ESPN360.com- Feyenoord vs. Ajax
8:15am- Setanta USA- Manchester City vs. Portsmouth
8:30am- ESPN360.com- Vitesse Arnhem vs. PSV Eindhoven
9am- FSC/FSE- AC Milan vs. Livorno
9am- ESPN360.com- Parma vs. Inter Milan
10:45am- No TV- Ghana vs. Egypt (African Cup of Nations Final)
10:55am- FSC/FSE- Arsenal vs. Manchester United
11am- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- Getafe vs. Racing Santander
11am- DirecTV- Tenerife vs. Real Zaragoza
11am- DirecTV- Villarreal vs. Osasuna
11am- DirecTV- Xerez vs. Mallorca
11am- Setanta USA- Auxerre vs. St. Etienne
11:30am- GolTV- Bayer Leverkusen vs. SC Freiburg
1pm- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- Atletico Madrid vs. Malaga
1pm- Telemundo- UNAM Pumas vs. CD Toluca
1pm- Azteca America- Puebla vs. Queretaro FC
2pm- GolTV- Corinthians vs. Palmeiras
2:30pm- FSC/FSE- Juventus vs. Lazio
3pm- GolTV- Sevilla vs. Valencia
3pm- Setanta USA- Lyon vs. Paris St. Germain
5pm- Univision- Club America vs. Indios
5pm- Telefutura- Santos Laguna vs. Atlas
10pm- Setanta USA- Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Delayed)
11pm- FSC- Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Delayed)
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from what I saw, arshavin was the only one making any sort of penetrating runs. obviously he was leading the line, that is his job, but each time arsenal were in possession he was always active and looking for the ball. whenever he was dispossessed, i felt he did an admirable job trying to win it back immediately.
That leads me to another problem with arsenal today. They didnt defend together, especially when united were in possession in their own half. It seemed like the closest man to the ball would apply strong pressure, but then if he were not able to win it, the rest of the players were not doing enough to cut out the passing options for the united player who had the ball.
The EPL season is seriously unwatchable.
They finally get a game that means something and it is a snoozer.
The team that has won it 11 out of 17 times, handing it to another “successful” team.
I realize as an American, I should know my place and root for Bolten not to get relegated. I tried to watch something that mattered, as it only comes along once a moon.
and is 20 years old
In other news, Steve Cherundolo is out for four weeks with a shoulder injury…
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/europe/story/Hannovers-Cherundolo-out-with-injury
jig is right ives please investigate about daniel williams of SC Freiburg. All i know is that he is a midfielder and has worked his way up from the club’s second squad or reserve squad
I don’t know, there’s something about representing your continent against the rest of the world that’s going to bring out some serious indignation in South Africa
You gave me one example. I cannot think of a right back as consistant as him defending wise. Alves is even worse in the back.
I disagree Ives. Depends on the opponent but I would probably start Sagna over Alves.
Outside of Sagna, Eboue is the only player that can play right back. If he is not there, we have to rely on Eastmond or Coqulin as cover. I don’t want to see him anywhere else beside right back, but he is not bad there. He’s also good to have in the locker room.
Being dangerous does not make you not lazy. Agree on Nasri and Rosicky. They cannot play as the wide players in teh front 3. Denilson let Rooney go, not Vermaelen.
Has he picked which national team he intends to play for? He’s German and American from what I can find online.
Why would you keep Eboue? He refuses to pass the ball and turns it over more than anyone. Plus he has a nasty propensity to get red cards in important games (as in ANC this year and against tottenham last campaign). Walcott is only being kept because he is English and Arsenal drastically lack Englishmen. I don’t know what happened to him but he is a shadow of his former self and he’s made of glass.
Wow, are there like five people at that game or what?
Are you crazy. Sagna’s defending has been suspect. Not even close. Against CHelsea in the first game at theEmirates, he gave Ashley Cole way too much space and that killed Arsenal.
you’ve got to be kidding. arshavin is anything but lazy. he was arsenal’s most dangerous player on the day by miles and was the only attacking player who seemed to be on the same page as cesc. nasri and rosicky both offered very little in terms of any incision in the final third.
overall a clumsy performance from arsenal. not sure vermaelen should have been out there. when fit, he’s obviously miles ahead of silvestre and campbell but he allowed rooney to run right past him for united’s second, which effectively ended the game.
90 minutes for daniel williams for frieburg in the bundesliga. ives, franco, avi, travis, do any of you know anything about this kid? I have to think he warrants at least some mention.
Yezzir……Eddie with the goal and Adu with the assist!!!
The thing with Arshavin is that he’s not the player thats influential the whole game the way Fabregas is. Arshavin is actually really lazy and makes a lot of bad passes. It’s just that he’s capable of one moment of magic that wins the game for us even if he’s doing f all the whole game. We also have no plan B. Playing 3 mids as our front 3 is not going to work all the time.
I would also keep Sagna, Gibbs, Nasri, and Eboue. I love Walcott and Vela but they are so overrated.
Compeltely agree with Denilson and Alumnia but Sagna? I know he can’t cross but he’s the 2nd best right back in the world!!
(SBI-He wouldn’t be the second-best right back for Brazil, let alone the world.)
So Jozy, Eddie, and Freddy did all right this w/e eh?
LD is tearing it up at Everton.
Guzan is a solid back up to Howard.
Clint is getting a rest to go along with his rehab.
If we can just shore up the back line before SA, I’ll gladly take it.
Ok stop right there. Its the point where most people who are objective thinks that was a world-class type pass…and sure you can have opinions…but you can read through obvious posts. Thats funny i never ever rarley mention Adu. So im obsessed now, i guess
It looks like another hinted bashers vs “obsessed” fanboys argument brewing like we see with other players. So I am going to get out of this before it starts.
and to think Inter is rumored to be interested in Sagna. Maybe they desire a RB who can’t defend and can’t cross accurately.
It was a pretty nice pass from Adu but let’s see if he can do it consistently. Same with EJ. He did well to control the ball and find the net, but this is in the 90+ minute. At this point the back line is tired. It’s easier to get goals like that at the end of the game against a tired opponent who’s up by 2.
This is pretty much where I’m at right now too. I’m a die-hard Arsenal supporter and right now I’m just empty.
Same old Arsenal, all bark, no bite. They can pass you off the pitch, but when it comes to finishing, lord are they terrible. Almunia is garbage, he needs to join a band or a trendy environmentalist group…not be Arsenal’s keeper (although I do dig his hair).
Arshavin had an off-game, no way around it. He was abusing Wes Brown in the beginning and just couldn’t pick out the right pass or get his shots on target. If he converts any of his early chances and puts Arsenal up 1-0, the game would have been drastically different.
Keep Gallas, Vermaalen (stud), Song, Cesc (hopefully), van Persie, Arshavin, Clichy,Rosicky and Bendtner…the rest need to go. Eboue / Almunia / Diaby are tied for the most useless players in EPL.
So what am I lying about?
Sagna, Denilson, and Almunia should be gone from Arsenal
That sucks. Need all the depth we can get at the back.
I think this probally why Bradley wants Adu on the roster. The fact that in 1/10 the minutes Adu gets than the others you mentioned……he is 10x better on the field than the others. But bradley wantes Adu playing..so we can only hope that this is a start of something good for Adu.
“I mean Toumba says a strange goal? Sign of a critic whos trying to cover-up a possible Adu re-surgence so he dosent have to eat crow. Nothing strange about that goal. Adu cuts in, lays off a pefrect 30-yard pass with the outside of his foot on a nice EJ run. Also Adu had some moments where he did something on the dribble. Like when he beat 2 players in the corner with a nutmeg and drew a foul.”
Mate, you can’t tell someone to eat crow after one match, even if he was the best player on the pitch for the winning team. Do you look at every touch adu has made on a ball since he started as a footballer. Mate, you’re obsessed. I hear Mariah Carey singing now…
Anyway, there is no Adu conspiracy or any crap like that. If the lad plays this well week in and week out, he’ll merit a call up. If not, he’ll stay out.
What a pathetic performance from Arsenal. I can’t believe I had a little hope Arsenal would pull a little miracle and win the title. We’re going trophyless once again. Alumnia and Denilson doesn’t belong anywhere near this team. Arshavin needs to do better and goodbye Cesc in the summer. Wenger needs to spend and buy already proven world class player and not a teenager that’s going to be good in 5 years. We can pay off the debt for the stadium by with the money we get from winning trophies.
Good luck to US vs England. I can only see one winner when a fit, in form Rooney is running at our back 4.
In a normal off-season, I’d agree that $8MM isn’t enough.
However, with the expiration of the CBA, can’t LD do whatever he damn well pleases?
He’s already a star in that league among the fans, imagine if he stays a while.
“I mean Toumba says a strange goal? Sign of a critic whos trying to cover-up a possible Adu re-surgence so he dosent have to eat crow. Nothing strange about that goal. Adu cuts in, lays off a pefrect 30-yard pass with the outside of his foot on a nice EJ run. Also Adu had some moments where he did something on the dribble. Like when he beat 2 players in the corner with a nutmeg and drew a foul.”
Mate, you can’t tell someone to eat crow after one match, even if he was the best player on the pitch for the winning team. Do you look at every touch adu has made on a ball since he started as a footballer. Mate, you’re obsessed. I hear Mariah Carey singing now…
Anyway, there is no Adu conspiracy or any crap like that. If the lad plays this well week in and week out, he’ll merit a call up. If not, he’ll stay out.
Was some guy running around on the sideline kissing the Koran like in the previous game?
cherundolo out for a month.
I call bluff. You must have been watching another game.
hmm
Easy buddy….don’t accuse me of hate when there was none. I watched the entire match here in Greece. It was a strange goal. Not one of the Xanthi defenders seemed to react at all to Eddie’s run…Freddie lobbed in a pass…(which I called decent in the OP)…and Eddie’s first touch was bad control that happened to nutmeg the goalie. It was a goal that looked as if Xanthi fell asleep for a moment. If you had seen the entire game you might understand how out of place the play looked.
And lets not call one pass a “re-surgence”…Don’t you have to be on top at one point in time to experience a resurgence anyway? “World Class pass”????….my you are easy to impress. If that was a world class pass then what was the pass on Xanthi’s 2nd goal?..SUPER DUPER GALACTIC SPACE PASS?
Of the two players Eddie looked dangerous and beat a defender in the corner on one play…forced another to foul him…and then scored a goal. Freddie was able to come it and get some minutes….he turned it over a few times, wasted a free kick from a dangerous position…made a good pass to Eddie for the goal….then missed a chance he needs to finish at the end. Don’t let my facts get in the way of your argument.
Praise be Allah — Egypt has scored! Seriously though — it was a really nice shot.
don’t know if he is eligible or not yet, but he did not dress
Adu & Johnson had a great game!I’m very proud. I said it in the past and I will say it again, I rather have a 50% ADU than a 110% Casey,Finley,Cunning,Rogers,Sasha, on our USNMT W.C roster. Adu hasn’t seen the pitch lately, yet he out shines the rest of the bums I just mention above who have had 100 times the playing time than that of ADU!lol
No one venturing into the box on attack….hopeless crosses that only find the defenders’ heads…slow, slow, slow.
I’m ‘fraid I can’t see African teams doing much at the WC. Unless of course the qualified teams didn’t give a darn about the ACN….
threaded*
That adu pass was pure class. Eddy’s goal was lucky but you take what you get. Josy needs some of that luck. for the sake of the MNT, hope these two guys can put a good run together. they both have so much more upside than most of our other choices.
Um, anybody know if Ricardo Clark dressed or got to play or is even eligible to dress yet?
Arsenal needs an American.
I would start with Tim Howard.
I mean Toumba says a strange goal? Sign of a critic whos trying to cover-up a possible Adu re-surgence so he dosent have to eat crow. Nothing strange about that goal. Adu cuts in, lays off a pefrect 30-yard pass with the outside of his foot on a nice EJ run. Also Adu had some moments where he did something on the dribble. Like when he beat 2 players in the corner with a nutmeg and drew a foul.
It was a gifted goal, but it was still a nice shot near post, between the keeper who was closing down and still treaded the needle. Watch it, you’ll see.