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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

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Bayern Munich have gotten off to a perfect start in the 2012-13 edition of the Bundesliga, winning each of their first three games. On Saturday, though, they face a difficult test as they travel to Gelsenkirchen to take on Schalke 04.

In what is probably the day's best matchup not just in Germany but all throughout Europe, a Bayern team that has won its first five games across three competitions faces a Schalke side that will feature American international Jermaine Jones. Schalke, like Bayern, enter the match on a high having won in the Champions League this past week, and they will look to take advantage of a Munich team that will likely be without dangerous winger Franck Ribery.

If you're looking for some English Premier League action, league leaders Chelsea host a Stoke City team that includes two Americans in Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu. Tim Howard and Everton also are in action, traveling to Swansea City in the day's first matchup.

Later tonight, the Major League Soccer stretch run continues with several games that have playoff implications. The Chicago Fire host the Columbus Crew in a crucial Eastern Conference game, while the Seattle Sounders play host to the San Jose Earthquakes in what is a must-win situation for the Sounders if they have any hopes of capturing the Supporters' Shield.

If you will be watching any of today's games, 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):

7:45am – ESPN2 – Swansea City vs. Everton

9:30am – GolTV – Schalke 04 vs. Bayern Munich

10am – Fox Soccer Channel – Chelsea vs. Stoke City

10am – Fox Soccer Plus – West Bromwich Albion vs. Reading

10am – FoxSoccer2Go – Southampton vs. Aston Villa

10am – FoxSoccer2Go – West Ham vs Sunderland

10am – FoxSoccer2Go – Wigan Athletic vs. Fulham

10am – BeIN Sport – Real Zaragoza vs. Osasuna

11am – Univision Deportes – Bastia vs. Paris St. Germain

11:30am – GolTV – Hamburg vs. Borussia Dortmund (Delay)

Noon – beIN Sport Espanol – Parma vs. Fiorentina

1pm – MLS Direct Kick – Montreal Impact vs. Sporting Kansas City

2pm – beIN Sport – Real Betis vs. Espanyol

2pm – Univision Deportes – Loriente vs. Nice

3:30pm – ESPN3.com – Porto vs. Beira-Mar

4pm – beIN Sport – Barcelona vs. Granada

7:30pm – MSG/MLS Direct Kick – NE Revolution vs. NY Red Bulls

8pm – NBC Sports Network – Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers

8:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew

10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – LA Galaxy vs. Toronto FC

10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Seattle Sounders vs. SJ Earthquakes

Comments

  1. McBride and Wynalda played with different personnel and with different schemes.

    At his best, the USMNT had McBride , who was an excellent, classic target man as the attacking hub of a team that Reyna pulling the strings bodyguarded by Chris Armas and later, Pablo Mastroeni. And Donovan played along side McBride or Reyna as needed.

    That was the basis of the 2002 WC team which is still,to me the best tournament team we ever fielded.

    Wynalda is probably more famous for providing John Harkes with a good time , which resulted in the infamous 1998 team meltdown at the World Cup. However, that team was actually quite attractive but Sampson had screwed it up before the Harkes business. That same basic team nearly won the 1995 Copa America, winning their group (beating Argentina 3-0 and Chile 2-1 in the process) Beating Mexico and then losing in the semis to Brazil 1-0. It had guys like Keller, Harkes, Lalas, Balboa, Earnie Stewart, Dooley, Cobi Jones, Joe Max Moore and Wynalda in a 3-6-1 formation. You can see their highlights on You Tube.

    They remain just about the most attacking oriented US team you will ever see.

    Wynalda and McBride had in common that they both had the title “USMNT striker” but that was about it.

    And don’t think it makes a lot of sense to compare them.

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  2. The first goal, no way in hell you can blame the keeper there. That ball was hammered, if it were Rooney or Aguero striking it instead of Lambert, people wouldn’t dream of laying blame on the keeper. Second goal, again the defense was ripped apart, can’t blame the keeper. Could he have possibly kept one or both of them out? Yea, but it would’ve taken spectacular saves, no way Guzan’s fault. Third goal, huge deflection. Fourth goal, blame it on Villa getting shredded for 3 goals and completely played off the field in the 2nd half and their whole team completely shut off. Yes, Guzan gave away the penalty but I’m sure Lambert will be more upset with the turnoff by the whole team that created the chance in the first place. All in all, not a good day for Villa (especially Lichaj unfortunately), but Guzan will probably take the least amount of blame out of everybody.

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  3. Lichaj was unspectacular and arguably at fault for the 1st goal. He was taken off around the 65′. Guzan you can’t blame for any of the goals, Villa just were ripped apart in the second half.

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  4. yeah after signing Cameron and Edu, they still signed Charlie Adam and Steven Nzonzi. Bringing in 4 new players at basically the same position was pretty odd. Depth and versatility, at best.

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  5. Dempsey has his new higher profile club and a lot of money.

    Fulham has a lot money and have freshened up their team.

    What went on between those two, in the greater scheme of things, was a very minor hiccup and SOP for contract/transfer disputes. Compared to what goes on in American sports it was hardly worth more than a sentence or two.

    Both parties haved moved on nicely and fans should do the same.

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  6. Ouch. I’m watching the Villa replay, and not a good day for our Yanks. I saw Lichaj give the ball away three straight times in the second half. First one, he commits a yellow card foul trying to recover. Second one…leads to the first goal. Zoiks. Then he gets pulled in the 67th minute.

    As for Guzan, well, first goal he got his hand to it and might’ve been able to kept it out (though it was struck close), second goal he got beat between the legs (again, close range), and fourth goal I read from earlier that he commits a penalty. double ouch. Third goal was a bad deflection and not his fault, but still, not going to look good for either guys.

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  7. Southhampton put four past Guzan and Lichaj. I didn’t watch the game,though getting four put past you can’t be good. How were their performances?

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  8. I didn’t watch the game, but of the four goals one was an og and one was a penalty. So the scoreline is probably a bit harsh.

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  9. As a Fulham fan, I am well “over it,” thank you. You’re the one who brought it up out of the blue. Sounds like you have some issues to work out.

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  10. Striker is a tough position to succeed in period.

    For example, Japan and Korea have many good outfield players in Europe but other than Okudata and he was a long time ago, I can’t think of one who is a striker.

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  11. Oh, i’m not hating on him. But I will agree with Adrian and even posted higher up in the thread that he was crowding Torres. It should be interesting to watch the kid grow.

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  12. No one is saying Clint was innocent, but he didn’t badmouth the club nor the manager. He wanted a move and had been saying it for months and felt it was the time. Liverpool flirted with him but didn’t go for him. He wanted out of Fulham, why couldn’t the club respect that? all we have is the coach’s word that Clint didn’t want to play. But he did train with the reserve squad.

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