Top Stories

Soccer Sunday: Your Running Commentary

The Premier League has become the Manchester Derby so far this season, with both clubs sitting atop of the standings. Now Manchester United and Manchester City will square off at Ethiad Stadium to determine the league leader as the calendar turns towards the Christmas rush at the end of December.

While not off to the same start as last season, Manchester City has yet to lose a match this year in league play. The Red Devils have become known for their prowess in fighting back from a deficit, having come from behind in multiple games this season, including  last week’s win over Reading.

Another story that has been followed throughout the week was the injury of Lionel Messi, who was carried off on a stretcher in Barcelona’s match against Benifica earlier this week. After many held their breath awaiting results of the extent of his injury, it was determined that Messi only suffered a knee bruise, and will start, as he looks to break Gerd Mueller’s record of 85 goals in a calendar year.

Two Americans will be pitted against each other, as Tim Howard and Everton welcome Clint Dempsey and Tottenham. After a rough start in his first season with Spurs, Dempsey has come along this month, with Tottenham surging to fourth in the Premier League standings. After a strong start to the year, the Toffees have fallen off, having won just one of their last nine matches.

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):

2am- Fox Soccer Channel- Ulsan vs. Monterrey

8:30am- Fox Soccer Channel- Manchester City vs. Manchester United

8:55am- beIN Sport Espanol- Torino vs. AC Milan

9am- beIN Sport- Palermo vs. Juventus

9:30am- GolTV- Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Mainz 05

10am- Fox Soccer Plus- Everton vs. Tottenham

11am- Fox Soccer Channel- West Ham United vs. Liverpool

11am- Univision Deportes- Olympique Marseille vs. Lorient

11am- beIN Sport Espanol- Athletic Bilbao vs. Celta Vigo

11:30am- GolTV- Hannover 96 vs. Bayer Leverkusen

1pm- beIN Sport- Atletico Madrid vs. Deportivo La Coruna

2pm- ESPN2- College Cup Final

2pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Ulsan vs. Monterrey (Club World Cup, tape delay)

2:45pm- RAI- Inter Milan vs. Napoli

3pm- beIN Sport- Real Betis vs. Barcelona

5pm- beIN Sport- Inter Milan vs. Napoli (Delayed)

7pm- beIN Sport- Athletic Bilbao vs. Celta Vigo

Comments

    • “Who was Gerd Muller?”

      Bayern Munich 453 games 398 goals
      West Germany 62 games 68 goals

      With Bayern Munich
      Intercontinental Cup: 1976
      European Champions’ Cup: 1974, 1975, 1976
      European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1967
      Bundesliga: 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974
      German Cup: 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971

      With West Germany
      FIFA World Cup: 1974
      European Championship: 1972

      Personal honours
      European Footballer of the Year: 1970
      German Footballer of the Year: 1967, 1969
      Voted best Player 40 Years Bundesliga 1963–2003
      European top scorer: 1970, 1972
      German top scorer: 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978
      World Cup top scorer: 1970
      European Championship top scorer: 1972
      European Cup top scorer: 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977
      World Football’s Greatest Goalscorer of All Time (awarded in 2000)
      Named to FIFA 100

      Reply
    • The question was never going to be if Messi would reach or beat Muller’s record. The question how badly is he gonna smash it? By 5 goals? Ten? More?

      Reply
      • Well there was some question when he went down injured in midweek, but thankfully that ended up not being serious after all. One thing to note though is that Gerd got his record in less games than Messi has played so far this season. Still, wonderful achievement.

      • Gerd also has 12 goals from a one time competition that put pro teams against 3rd and 4th division teams. That’s how he ended up with such a high number of goals.

      • Mr. schmoe,

        You could go that way. Or you could be sensible and just say that Muller and Messi are two very different players who were also two all-time great players.

        There is no need to try to lift one up by putting down the achievements of the other.

  1. Not to defend the City fans for the indefensible, but looking at the crowd that was involved, this was not in front of the Man Utd supporters. Rio was being a complete tool coming over to taunt City fans…going to pull up his shirt. Everyone is going to criticize the boorish behavior of the fan who threw the coin (nice aim, by the way, for a country that doesn’t grow up playing baseball or quarterback), but why is it OK for Rio to taunt the City fans? In another context, you’d say he was daring them to do something about it.

    Again, I know everyone’s gonna rip into me, but I’m not defending the fan, or even saying Rio deserved it. I am saying that players need to act more sensibly, too. Celebrate with your teammates, or your own fans. When you run up to a City fan section and stand in front of them to pull up your shirt — maybe there’s a message there. maybe there isn’t — you’re deliberately taunting the City fans. Run into a bar and get in the face of some drunk guys and taunt them. See what happens.

    Reply
    • I thought the same thing… definitely doesn’t make it right (at all), but Rio can’t say he didn’t know there was a pretty good chance of that outcome or something similar. That being said, he probably got what he wanted, more or less. Obviously, it’s inexcusable behavior from the City fans involved, and I’m sure it’ll be in the headlines for an agonizingly long period of time.

      Reply
      • it should be in the headlines for a long time. this type of stuff “normally” does not happen in the epl which is great. it is in the capacity of any team’s fans worldwide for it to occur. some countries more than others, couch couch, latin america including mexico.

      • because the constant John Terry and Luis Suarez headlines for the past year and a half have definitely been about impacting racism in the Premier League…
        My point is most of the headlines will be about whatever is easiest to write about, not about what’s right or wrong. Obviously stupid drunk fans shouldn’t throw coins at a player on the field. Having a million articles written about this incident isn’t going to do anything but make writers’ jobs easier. I guess all I’m saying is it was a great game, and that should be the focus of the postgame discussions.

    • Germany is a definite possibility, but he is now too big a fish for the Dutch clubs. And in my view he’s got nothing to prove there. Also wouldn’t be surprised to see him linked with some decent English clubs as earlier as January.

      Reply
      • Yikes and AZ quit jumping to conclusion. He needs to be consistent before a club from Germany or Holland touch him. No club from England is going to jump at him in January; he is not proven because he has scored nine goals in the Austrian League. Relax gents let the young man develop first.

      • you have a point but he’s on track to score 15-20 goals this season and that would secure a.move. Not to a big club but a decent midtable Dutch club or small German side. He has mastered the Austrian league in a matter of months

      • Given that Rapid Vienna is fighting for a Champions League playoff spot, Boyd has nothing to gain by going to a mid-table Eredivisie team. The jump up in competition is very, very marginal.

      • I am not saying he is too good to play in Holland. I am saying Rapid Vienna will value him at close to 10 million and that makes him too expensive for Dutch teams to chase. The Eredivisie is a better league, but only marginally so, with the top three or four teams in Austria easily better than the bottom half of the Eredivisie.

      • And looky there, reports are surfacing in the UK media that Liverpool is considering making a move during the January window.

      • AZ,
        Moving to Liverpool the year before the World Cup?

        First, transfer rumors in Europe are just that, rumors. Most of them are BS. Right around the opening of the transfer window rumors of interest from some big name EPL club in young players are as common as bedbugs in a cheap motel.

        Second, Liverpool has ruined better players than Boyd. As a fan of his I would hope he be very wary of them.

        Third, how many top scorers from the Austrian Bundesliga have gone directly to the EPL and done really well? I can’t think of one in the last 10 years. In contrast Holland has provided a good number of forwards who have done well in England.

        Fourth, going into 2013 UEFA ranks
        Holland’s league at #8. After that, in order, it goes Russia, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Switzerland, Denmark, and Austria at #15. Just FYI regarding countries where other USMNT guys play, Sweden is at #23, Scotland is #24 and Norway is ranked at #27. These rankings are used for seeding purposes.

        I’m not saying Boyd would fail in the EPL but he’s no sure thing either.

        I’m real tired of people confusing interest (real or imagined) from an EPL club as proof that a player has “arrived”.

        I would also be very careful about overhyping his success in Austria. I like Boyd and he has great potential but Dortmund are pretty good at evaluating young talent so if they let him go as opposed to loaning him out, it was for a good reason and those of you who want to prematurely crown him as the next big thing should just cut the kid a break.

      • IMHO. if you are not a firm starter for your Natz team. it is really dangerous for your WC hopes to make a transfer to a different League in a year prior to a World Cup.

        Transferring to a new team is seldom easy, and transferring to a new league is even more difficult. Unless you are a “star” with an understanding you will be a starter when you arrive to a new team, it will take time, considerable effort and hopefully with a fair and even coach make playing appearances. However, the larger the club and the less experience you have and depending upon your position, the likelihood of starting may be remote and even making a game team roster is extremely difficult.

        If you don’t get regular appearances and/or start, you may find your position with the USMNT marginalized, and call-up less frequent or non-existent.

        I think that for a USMNT marginal player (and Boyd is still marginal) moving to a new and larger club in anew league and trying to challenge for a position of your club team and at the same time, trying to make your National Team is hugely difficult.

        I think Boyd should stay at Rapid Vienna for the the next season, cement his starting position and score lots of goals. More importantly, by consistently staring and scoring, he will be on JK radar more than if he were on an EPL team, playing in the reserves, being loaned out or fighting for scant playing time. Large teams have a tendency to “stockpile” players that may or not fir into their future plans. The worst possible time for this to happen is the year prior to the WC.

  2. For Mikey’s sake, I’m really hoping for an Inter-Napoli draw (and a Lazio loss tomorrow

    And this Everton-Spurs game couldn’t have wortked out any better for me. Clint scores and Toffees win.

    Looking forward to seeing this Boyd goal…

    Reply
  3. From my dodgy translation of Twitter posts, I think TBoyd scored again. Described as a “super-volley”, even…searching for video.

    Reply
  4. OMG, what’s with Tottenham’s defense? 2 goals in 88 seconds, from winner to loser. At least Dempsey scored. Maybe Friedel will get a chance next time.

    Reply
    • Lloris did not show well there at the end. He had a hand on the first shot. You gotta believe that Friedel would have stopped that.

      Reply
      • Friedel probably stops the 1st goal, but Tottenham have too much money invested in Lloris being their keeper of the future to waffle on him, and screw his head up irrevocably, now. Unless Lloris just totally falls apart, which I don’t see happening, Friedel will probably continue to play cup/Europa games with Spurs or move clubs in January.

    • Yea, for Tottenham fans, this game was painful. If you’re an American though, it was a great game: Dempsey scored and Lloris missed saving an Everton goal (first one) that I bet Friedel would’ve saved.

      Reply
    • Tevez with a great second half, but disastrous last 5 min. Gets the yellow on one end, makes a frustration foul on the other end which sets up a dangerous free kick, then gets called off the wall where he would have blocked the goal by RVP.

      Reply
  5. 1) $17 says Dempsey scores today
    2) Is Wondo leaving MLS next month for Mexico or Europe
    3) Any chance Friedel takes the player-coach offer from Blackburn?

    Reply
  6. Give Tevez credit for staying on his feet and trying to get a scoring opportunity and not just going down. Mancini did not appear to agree with this approach based on his hand gestures after the play.

    Reply
      • To be fair, neither will most teams. All of Europe save Germany and Spain are wildcards. Italy, France, or the Netherlands could make it to the final or flame out spectacularly in the group stage. England will, naturally, go out on penalties at some stage, and I agree with you it will likely be the QF

Leave a Reply to nato Cancel reply