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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

JuventusMilan (Getty)

AC Milan is in first place in Serie A at the moment, but unbeaten Juventus can retake control of the Scudetto race with a win today when the squads clash in Milan in the day's top match-up.

Milan is the home team today, but will face a tough task against a Juve side that has yet to lose a match all year. The absence of suspended striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and injured midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng will make it tougher for Milan to stop Juventus, which will come in confident having already beaten Milan in league play as well as in Coppa Italia earlier this month.

In Mexico, first-place Tigres take on Pachuca in the league's top match of the day. Jose Torres will look to put together another classy performance before playing for the USA against Italy on Wednesday. Surprising side Club Tijuana could catapult up the Primera standings with a win against Toluca tonight.

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 TV Schedule is after the jump): 

TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV

7:45 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - West Ham vs. Crystal Palace

9:30 a.m. - GOLTV - FC Cologne vs. Bayer Leverkusen

10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Chelsea vs. Bolton

10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Queens Park Rangers vs. Fulham

10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Newcastle vs. Wolverhampton

10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - West Brom vs. Sunderland

10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Wigan Athletic vs. Aston Villa

10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Middlesbrough vs. Reading

12 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/ESPN3.com - Genoa vs. Parma

12 p.m. - GOLTV - Real Betis vs. Getafe

12 p.m. - DirecTV - Racing Santander vs. Sporting Gijon

12:30 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Manchester City vs. Blackburn

12:30 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Werder Bremen vs. FC Nurnberg

1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Ajaccio vs. Dijon

1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Auxerre vs. St. Etienne

1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Montpellier vs. Bordeaux

1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Nice vs. Caen

1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Evian Thonon Gaillard vs. Nancy

1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Valenciennes vs. Lorient

2 p.m. - DirecTV - Malaga vs. Real Zaragoza

2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - AC Milan vs. Juventus

3 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Lyon vs. Paris-St. Germain

3:15 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Academica de Coimbra vs. Benfica

3:30 p.m. - GOLTV - Corinthians vs. Botafogo

4 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Espanyol vs. Levante

6 p.m. - MLSSoccer.com stream - Orlando City vs. Toronto FC

6 p.m. - Azteca America/ESPN Deportes - Jaguares vs. Estudiantes Tecos

6 p.m. - Galavision - Monterrey vs. Puebla

8 p.m. - MLSSoccer.com stream - BC Hacken vs. FC Dallas

8 p.m. - MLSSoccer.com stream - Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake

8 p.m. - Telefutura/ESPN Deportes - Pachuca vs. Tigres UANL

10 p.m. - MLSSoccer.com stream - New England Revolution vs. New York Red Bulls

10 p.m. - Galavision - San Luis vs. Atlas

10 p.m. - Telefutura - Atlante vs. America

10 p.m. - Azteca America - Tijuana vs. Toluca 

Comments

  1. I thought Ream played well. Distribution and the way he took the space was very good. Even his defending was good. I may have my my blinders on but it didn’t look like any of the goals were his fault. Am I off base here?

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  2. Looks like Mixx went the full 90 in a 2-0 win for Gent. Good to see him incorporated so quickly. It would be a good move if he impresses and it becomes a full transfer. He’d likely get some Europa League action next week.

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  3. Hard to understand how the AR missed the call on what should have been Milan’s second goal. He’s in perfect position to see it, and it’s not even close. The ball was WAY over the line. If he was paying any attention, he had to have seen a lot of daylight between the ball and the post. This isn;t just a case for goal-line tech, it’s an argument for replacing the ARs with computers.

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  4. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that Dempsey himself says that he prefers playing as a second striker more than being out wide?

    some other thoughts:

    In a 4-3-3, isn’t the idea of playing “out wide” kid of moot since there is so much freedom to roam? Plus given that his (admittedly incredible) workrate usually favors offense rather than defense, it stands to reason that the further up the field you put him the more of a return you’ll get for his effort (this isn’t a criticism of his style, I believe very few players can be all things and while he doesn’t an admirable job tracking back it’s not really one of his strong points).

    With all that in mind I’m not so sure that playing him forward and central is necessarily putting him “out of position” but rather capitalizing on his strengths.

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  5. Can’t help but add my two cents here in what has been a great discussion. Center back (and center mid) are two positions after goalie that truly benefits from age and experience. As long as both stay healthy I see Gooch and Bocangra as out CB pairing with possibly Ream, Goodson and possibly Parkhurst, Cameron, and Gonzales fighting to fill out he depth chart. It’s also why I think that Jermaine Jones will be around in 2014, but that’s another post.

    While talent, pace and individual skill are a must-have, the ability to read the international game, keep your head, hold the respect of your teammates, be a mentor off the field and an organizing force on it all come with time. I think that Bocanegra, while not the flashiest player in the team, is an undisputed leader. Experienced, effective, talented, smart, and classy and clutch. That’s a tall order to fill and while I think there are several players who have the potential to grow into the position, no one comes close right now in terms of demonstrating it consistently on the international level (that’s not a knock on MLS). Same goes for Gooch, who, when healthy, is simply an undisputed starter (and is still improving his game BTW). Again, there are other players who on paper have the potential to be this good, and that’s great. I cannot wait to see how they rise, but at the moment we’re just not there and until we are it’s premature to talk about alternate lineups without it simply being conjecture. The only other player that has demonstrated that he comes close is Goodson.

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  6. After a wild finish, Nurnberg held on for the win, meaning, with Hoffenheim’s win, two big victories today for teams with USMNT players. The wins put both Hoffenheim and Nurnberg within sniffing distance of Europa League slots. I think Hoffenheim, with the new coach, has a chance to pull it off–would love to see Williams and Johnson in Europa competition. Nurnberg would probably need a miracle to make it. I keep thinking how great it would be to see Gonzales on Nurnberg’s backline.

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  7. We are still two years out. A lot can happen in two years. Ike Opara is still an unknown commodity based on his injuries his rookie year, and Boss largely wasted a year looking for a good club situation.

    We are also leaving Danny Williams out of the discussion.

    Ream, Gonzo, and John have a long way to go before they get in Gooch or Boca’s league, but they are on the right track. Hopefully one of them figures it out.

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  8. “the fact that he is clearly the best US CB now (and he is), doesn’t mean much two years down the road. It’s really a close call agewise don’t you think?”

    That argument applies both ways to everyone currently in the running for the centerback positions.

    Just becuase you are younger, it does not mean you are going to get better. It’s simply too early to be so definitive about who will man those slots in 2014.

    It is not uncommon to find good World Cup teams with 30-35 year old players, especially in the centrback positions. Experience counts for a lot in such tournaments. Typically you find a mobile center back paired with a stationary, more physical type. Pique and Puyol come to mind.

    In that sense the Gooch/Boca would be more classic if either one were more mobile than they are.

    It may be that by the time 2014 rolls around one of the younger, more mobile Under 23 types may have had a break out year somewhere and may force their way onto the team.

    The centerback situation is long way from being settled as far as 2014 goes.

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  9. Watching Nuremberg vs W. Bremen on ESPN360. Looks like Timmy Chandler is playing right mid, pushed up really high at times almost as a forward. There is no commentary on this match, it’s strange watching it this way. I would actually prefer to hear the German commentary instead of nothing.

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  10. Agree Mig. I think Dempsey has qualities that make him a viable candidate for USMNT striker (not saying he should be penciled in permanently or that’s his best role). At least this season, many of his EPL goals are the result of smartly timing his runs in the box, positioning and being aggressive in outplaying his markers. Until USMNT strikers develop/consistently demonstrate higher caliber play for our 4-3-3, don’t see why we wouldn’t consider Deuce for the striker role.

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  11. Chelsea took over 25 shots, can’t be just the backline.

    Sparky refused to shake Jol’s hand after the match. Let’s see if SAF and his ESPNsoccernet lackys call for his dismissal.

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  12. You’d be surprised how often a team who’s suddenly a man down will start to play better because the team focuses more and know they have to play better to get a result.

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  13. Well in all fairness, a late runner heading in from the right should be covered by the rightback with some help from a midfielder. Ream isn’t the one you’d expect.

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  14. The team just doesn’t seem to work with him well. I really feel for him too because he works so hard, makes good runs, and it just doesn’t seem to gel.

    Drogba today danced his way around the box, made good turns, very good passes, and was so much more integrated than Torres has been. It’s frustrating because Torres has every bit as much talent (more in some phases) than DD but it just doesn’t work here.

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  15. The way Chelsea had been playing lately, I was hoping Bolton could get at least a point out of this. With Ream committed to bolton, we need them to avoid relegation badly. Too bad Stu isn’t healthy enough to help yet.

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  16. Well, kev, it’s early days but I think Ream looked pretty silky out there today. He had to make more plays in the first 30 minutes than a CB normally has to make all game.

    Good stuff.
    m

    Reply

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