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Soccer Tuesday: Your Running Commentary

VincentEnyeamaLille1 (Getty)

By DAN KARELL

Only four minutes separate Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama from a place in the Ligue 1 record books as he heads into a tough match against Marseille on Tuesday afternoon.

The Nigerian shot stopper has earned ten straight shutouts and hasn’t conceded a goal in 944 minutes, four minutes behind the record set last season by Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu. But despite the incredible form that’s pushed Lille into second place, they now face a UEFA Champions League caliber club in Marseille, who are looking to improve from their fourth-placed position in the league standings.

Elsewhere, the injury-riddled Borussia Dortmund hit the road to face FC Saarbrucken in a German Cup round of 16 match, with manager Jurgen Klopp knowing that at this point in the season, it’s likely his team’s only chance of silverware. Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin were added last Saturday to the ever-growing list, though Blaszczykowski and Lewandowski are expected to play.

In the English Premier League, cellar dweller Crystal Palace looks to improve their fortunes in Tony Pulis’ home debut since taking over as manager when they face fellow London side West Ham.

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):

1pm – Lille vs. Marseille – beIN Sport USA

1pm – Bologna vs. Siena – beIN Sport Play

2:30pm – FC Saarbrucken vs. Borussia Dortmund – ESPN Deportes/ESPN3

3pm – Crystal Palace vs. West Ham United – NBC Sports Network

3pm – Nice vs. AS Monaco – beIN Sport USA

3pm – Parma vs. Varese – beIN Sport Play

Comments

    • Jones directly responsible for 2 of Hoffenheim’s goals. The first one he went for a tackle and missed completely which allowed Hoffenheim to break and resulted in a goal. The 2nd one he tried a chip pass near his own box, which hit off the back of his teammate and fell right to the Hoffenheim forward in the box, very bad pass. He has looked terrible so far. To be fair most of the Schalke team looks bad today, but he is the worst.

      Reply
      • “Jones directly responsible for 2 of Hoffenheim’s goals. The first one he went for a tackle and missed completely which allowed Hoffenheim to break …”

        Sounds like a typical game for Jones.

      • Just because he missed the tackle the goal is solely his fault? C’mon, they still had to defend the break. Not his fault entirely.

      • Are you saying if Jones had not played Schalke would have won the game? When you miss tackle your team mates are supposed to pick you up, the keeper is supposed to make a save.

        If you go looking for it you can always find the bad things any players does in a given game. Jones in no different.

        You clearly don’t like Jones but you may well have to live with him being a key guy for the US because at his best, he is much better than any other US central midfielder except for Mikey.

      • hopefully sacha earns klinsy’s respect somehow because i would much rather see him there than jones.

      • I did not say this anywhere in my post. Yes your teammates should pick you up when they can, it is a team game. However putting your teammates in this situation is not advisable. Jones made a poor choice and his team was punished for it. The majority of the fault is with Jones on this play. The 2nd goal was completely Jones fault. His attempted chip hit off a players back and landed directly on the foot of the opposing striker, who was in 1v1 with the GK. Unlucky for Jones? Yes, but again it was another poor decision.

        Had he scored a goal or made a great play I would also mention those plays. However he had a bad game today. It happens to everyone. I dont see how ‘I clearly dont like Jones’. Jones is an amazing for Schalke typically, but right now he is in poor form.

      • In the context you put it in, it would seem like it certainly was his fault.

        I’m curious If the tackle was attempted in the center of the field and how many ppl were left to defend how many Hoffenheim players on a break?

        And then a chip pass in his own box? I’d say he’d be responsible for that one. He tried something similar in a recent USMNT game and it translated into a chance.

        Speaking to the comment that was made about how somebody finds it’s curious that ppl would bash their own nats, I find it equally curious that a person would go out of his way to defend a nats player, one who isn’t particularly outstanding, despite horrible outings.

        Ppl see Schalke. Started and played 90 minutes and they assume he’s one of our best players. This is hogwash. Players adapt well to certain leagues and better understand the intricacies of team concepts. If you follow MLS, you’ve probably seen plenty of players w/’success abroad but fail in MLS only to move back to Europe and play.

        Be objective, always

      •  “Ppl see Schalke. Started and played 90 minutes and they assume he’s one of our best players. This is hogwash. Players adapt well to certain leagues and better understand the intricacies of team concepts. If you follow MLS, you’ve probably seen plenty of players w/’success abroad but fail in MLS only to move back to Europe and play.
        Be objective, always”

        Hogwash is not generally seen as an objective comment.

        Objectivity is only truly possible if you are in possession of the facts; something that SBI posters, most of whom read little if any of the content of the articles, rarely have a good grasp of.

        Nevertheless, you should practice what you preach. Jones has more often than not, been there when the US needed him in important competitive games. Look it up.

      • My adjetive isn’t an objective one, therefore I’m not practicing what I preach. If My comment preached anything, it was to practice objectivity concerning players not posters, so I’ll continue to practice that

        Jones has been more productive for us more often then not in big games you say? Look it up? What should I look up exactly? What advanced stat is going to tell me that definitively, whenever we’ve needed him in a game, he’s been instrumental to us winning?

        I’ll be quoting you when he gets that red card in the group games nxt summer.

      • @ Kingsley – I watched this match. Jones went for a tackle on the wing where he was the last defender. He missed completely. He dove in and the ball was there and simply missed it, that is not a problem this happens all the time. The problem was the play was in the final third on the wing and there was no one behind him. He fell on the ground and the wing sprinted into the box with the ball which put his backline on their heels. The wing played the ball to a player in the box who scored the goal. Jones poor decision to go for a tackle instead of simply containing the player led to a goal scoring chance for the other team. Could his GK and CB have saved his butt? Yes. Is part of the blame on them, sure its a team game. However Jones was the biggest problem on this play.

        The 2nd goal he tried an ill-advised cheeky chip pass from his own box. It didnt come off and resulted in a direct chance for the other team which again they converted. Another poor decision. His play was ok, but his decisions were horrible.

        For the record, go over any posts of mine from the last 4 or 5 years and you will not find me bashing on Jones. I have always liked his composure and big game experience. However there is nothing wrong with calling a player out when he is obviously in poor form. People read these blogs to get updates on how Americans are playing, I was giving an honest account of how Jones played in this particular match, nothing more nothing less. This part is not directed at Kingsley.

      • all too often, ppl comment on a players game, not based on how they play in the full context of their role on the team, but on the day to day perception they intake from the latest journalist’s article, letting their emotions get involved in debates because they feel like an analysis by someone against their beliefs are an attack on them personally.

        All I can say is that I completely agree from the way you described it that obviously be considered a bad game. I for one, look forward to more postings of this sort because there surely isn’t enough objectivity. Mostly because i feel that 50% who make a habit to comment on this website or between the ages of 15 and 21

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