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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

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Last season, both Tottenham and Newcastle had UEFA Champions League aspirations, and battled each other to the end of the season only to have Chelsea snatch away the spot they were chasing after by winning the Champions League Final.

Spurs and the Magpies kick off the new English Premier League season doing battle yet again, only with plenty of new faces in the mix. New Tottenham manager Andres Villas Boas will look to get his new job off to a winning start against a Newcastle side that will be hoping Pappis Demba Cisse can duplicate his goal-scoring heroics of last season.

The Newcastle-Tottenham match headlines the opening day of the English Premier League season, which will also feature Arsenal taking on Sunderland and West Brom facing Liverpool.

In Mexico, Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna take on UNAM Pumas while fellow Mexican powerhouse Monterrey faces Atlante.

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

9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com – FC Oberneuland vs. Borussia Dortmund

9:50 a.m. - ESPN/ESPN3.com – Arsenal vs. Sunderland

9:50 a.m. – FoxSoccer2Go - West Ham vs. Aston Villa

9:50 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Reading vs. Stoke City

9:50 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Queens Park Rangers vs. Swansea City

10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - West Brom vs. Liverpool

10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go – Fulham vs. Norwich City

11 a.m. - Univision Deportes – Lyon vs. Troyes

12:30 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Newcastle vs. Tottenham

12:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - PSV Eindhoven vs. Roda JC

1 p.m. - beIN Sport - Celta Vigo vs. Malaga

2 p.m. - Univision Deportes - Loreint vs. Montpellier

3 p.m. - beIN Sport - Sevilla vs. Getafe

4 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Seattle Sounders vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

4:30 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Toronto FC vs. Sporting Kansas City

5 p.m. - beIN Sport - Mallorca vs. Espanyol

5:30 p.m. - ESPN3.com – Fluminense vs. Sport Recife

6 p.m. - Univision Deportes – Queretaro vs. America

7 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Indiana University vs. Chivas de Guadalajara U-23s

7:30 p.m. – MLS Live/Direct Kick - Montreal Impact vs. San Jose Earthquakes

8 p.m. - Univision Deportes - Monterrey vs. Atlante

8 p.m. - Telefutura – Santos Laguna vs. Pumas UNAM

8:30 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick – Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution

9 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Colorado Rapids vs. Chivas USA

9 p.m. – MLS Live/Direct Kick – Real Salt Lake vs. FC Dallas

10 p.m. - Univision Deportes - San Luis vs. Chivas de Guadalajara

Comments

  1. I would say I can’t wait to see FFC get smoked over the next few weeks, but unfortunately they have a soft schedule. After they play Man U next week they have easy matches until the end of September.

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  2. I’ll betcha $5 that Podolski is not starting by December. In reference to PD’s remark, no doubt in my mind that Clint Dempsey is a better all-round player than Prince Poldi and would make stronger offensive and defensive contributions at Arsenal. Just my opinion.

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  3. Bingo. Right on target. It became personal with Martin Jol and Fulham billionaire owner Mohamed Al-Fayed for one reason and one reason only: Clint Dempsey did not cave into their intense never-ending pressure to sign the gosh darn contract extension that they kept slapping him in the face with. And Martin Jol pulled out the brass knuckles yesterday and lied through his teeth to bloody up Dempsey and try to ruin his reputation.

    After the game today Jol oozed with false contriteness and fake pity for Clint, saying: “I don’t want to hear the fans were chanting against (Dempsey) because he was a terrific player for us. He was the most productive midfield player in the whole league last season.”

    And he continued: “Hopefully he will play for us again,” the Fulham boss added. “There is one season to go (on his contract) and no one has come in for him.” AND THIS IS THE KEY LINE: “To say he refused to play is probably a bit harsh but he wanted to move and if you want to move, you don’t want to take risks so you don’t want to play in case you get an injury. So for me that was a very awkward situation and it was for him as well.”

    In other word,s Jol’s comments yesterday were complete fricking lies. Jol actually was quoted over a week ago saying that Dempsey would not be playing for the home opener. Apparently, the trash talking and hard-ball tactics are standard operating procedure for Fulham. I looked at some of their fan Web sites and some posters — in between spewing their hate for Clint — mentioned that its happened in the past with Bullard/Steed/Davis/Schwarzer.

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  4. Outside of Liverpool fans, I don’t see why people want Clint to go there. The last 3 seasons have been 7th, 6th, and 8th. This year, they have a new manager installing a new system, which will always take time to implement, costing the team some points, especially at the beginning of the season. They have an aging Gerrard, a misfiring Suarez, and a defense that I don’t really trust. Someone, please convince me why this team will be pushing for a Champions League spot. Don’t mistake me, I want Clint to go to a good team, to get a crack at Champions League, to have his dream fulfilled, but I’m having a lot of trouble seeing that happen at Liverpool.

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  5. And Liverpool is no Arsenal. They were mid table last year; what signings did they make to give hope of Champions League this year? Plus, Rodgers will have to overhaul the system, meaning the players will take time to acclimate and cost them points.

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  6. I thought it was a bad move from the start for Dempsey to announce his desire to play for other clubs. It was very unprofessional and it looks as though Fulham are none too pleased about it. Now instead of being top dog on a mid-table club, he’s a bench jockey waiting for someone to pull him off the scrap heap.

    Logic would say that his value goes down the longer he stays off the pitch, so why would Fulham opt for that route unless it somehow became personal.

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  7. Diagree. Fulham is excellent at doling out a beating one week to take an equally bad one on both of the next two.

    Plus they were playing Norwich.

    I predict another mid-table finish for them, with or without Dempsey.

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  8. I don’t love Liverpool, but I believe they are a better team than Fulham and will finish well above them this year, with or without Dempsey. I guess we’ll see who’s right.

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  9. I guess I shouldn’t have said ‘reasonable price’. I didn’t mean at what’s currently being offered or less. I meant for a reasonable amount more.

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  10. I actually beg to differ… Fulham could have score 8… they looked like Arsenal light but finished their chances..

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  11. Yeah, I don’t disagree that Liverpool will be better than today, but I don’t think they will be competing for a Champs League spot. They were a mid table team last year and could easily be one again.

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  12. Let’s everyone relax a bit. There are always crazy results in the first few weeks of the season. Fulham isn’t nearly as good as they looked today and vice versa with regards to Liverpool

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  13. Downhill equals 4th leading scorer in the Bundesliga despite missing time and playing for a bad team? Apparently you haven’t watched the Bundesliga in the last 2 years.

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  14. No, it means that Fulham has a much stronger hand to play. The other teams are going to be desperate and Fulham will be quite comfortable as they don’t need to go and find their own transfers. The only potential thing today does is possibly send a team into panic spending on Dempsey.

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  15. Then I have to question Clint’s perception. Liverpool were a mess last year and don’t look like they are solving the problem. It is not an upgrade.

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  16. Well if Clint goes to Arsenal, ok, but going to Liverpool is silly at this point. Fulham have as good a chance as making the top four as the ‘pul.

    Reply

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