The English FA Cup is in full swing this weekend while the Mexican League sees a full slate of games in its 2011 kickoff today.
Everton and Aston Villa are just two of the clubs with American players who will compete in FA Cup action today, while La Liga also has some offerings on the schedule, with FC Barcelona in action this afternoon.
If you're a fan of the Mexican League you'll have plenty of action to choose from as well 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 SOCCER ON TV
10:00am-Fox Soccer Plus- Scunthorpe United vs. Everton
10:00am- Fox Soccer Channel- Sheffield United vs. Aston Villa
10:00am- Foxsoccer.tv- Burton vs. Middlesbrough
Noon- DirecTV- Malaga vs. Athletic Bilbao
12:30- Fox Soccer Channel- Stevenage vs. Newcastle United
2:00- GolTV- Real Sociedad vs. Sevilla
2:00- Fox Soccer Plus- Burton vs. Middlesbrough (Delayed)
2:45- ESPN3.com- PSG vs. Lens
4:00- GolTV- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Barcelona
6pm- Azteca America- Cruz Azul vs. Estudiantes Tecos
6pm- Telefuturta- Queretaro vs. Tigres UANL
6pm- Telemundo- Monterrey vs. San Luis
8pm- Telefutura- Santos Laguna vs. Atlante
10pm- Galavision- Atlas vs. Morelia
11pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Melbourne Victory vs. Adelaide United
You’re right. What was I thinking, Houllier should be sacked, George John or John George(whichever order), Lichaj, Tim Ream, Omar Gonzales, The Boss, Gooch should all be brought in to shore up the defense.
Since Lerner owns the Browns he should take advantage of his Ohio ties and bring the Akron squad over as well.
Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, bring in Mike Grella and Marcus Tracy to shoreup the attack, Jeremiah White and Benny Feilhaber to shore up the midfield and Freddy Adu, just for laughs( then I’d know they weren’t really serious).
And make Freidel stop speaking in that faux hybrid whatever accent of his, calling everyone “lads” etc.
Oh and for the BB fans buy Mike Bradley and make him sit on the bench.
Whats up with all the common sense and non-hysterical talk?
Video of spec’s goal was just posted on Yanks Abroad Video Highlights. Not a bad goal. I hope he gets picked up by another team.
“How he fell out of favor this bad with Houllier (Not even making the bench in a Cup game) is beyond me”
There is a simple explanation.
You aren’t there and your job isn’t on the line if Lichaj isn’t producing. Don’t you wish AV had hired BB? Then they would keep Lichaj in to make sure he developed as a player fo the US.
But then I forget that this is the EPL not the USMNT developmental league and in this league ( especially when you are heading towards relegation trouble) you either produce PDQ or you’re out.
Give Walker a chance to screw up. You may yet see Lichaj again. After all the kid has a massive total of 3-4 EPL games to his name and is 20 years old and AV is in the midst of a very tough campaign. There is no reason to push him if you don’t have to (and AV clearly doesn’t have to)and maybe ruin his confidence for life.
This is the EPL it’s a tough league. People should remember that when they make fun of guys like EJ for just getting 5-10 minutes here and there. That’s a lot more than many players ever get.
I didn’t realize that Grant originated the
“Well I’m going to bench Johnny Spector ” move.
He’s been at Upton Park since 2006 and had 92 appearances. Since there are 38 league games per year this mean Johnny has about 2.4 seasons worth of apperances. Even given his frequent injuries, Grant can’t take credit for the idea.
One more for the Yanks Abroad records: Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt won the Antalaya Cup against FC Koln, 6-5 in penalty kicks. I assume Ricardo got 90 minutes, as he was the first kick taker — and missed it! In the same competition, Hannover 96 lost 3-1 to Galatsaray – haven’t been able to locate a roster to see if Steve Cherundolo and Damarcus played.
http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1294060148485.shtml
“a guy who shut down Bale”
So the AV defense did not help Lichaj shut down Bale?
How is it that Lichaj gets all the credit for shutting down Bale and yet deserves no blame when the defense plays badly?
You can’t have it both ways.
Martin O’Neill thought so much of Lichaj that he never game him a game in League play and Lichaj was playing now due to injury to Luke Young.
I’m not a Houllier fan but I’m not there and maybe Houllier feels the kid needs a break. He’s played a lot more than he is used to playing lately. The Anti-American argument sounds a little too convenient for my taste.
Houllier isn’t managing France, England or the US. He’s responsible for AV and it just may be that right now he feels he needs more than Lichaj. The kid has been good but not perfect and if AV is relegated it’s Houllier’s butt on the line. He has little if any room for error and no time for on the job training.
I’m inclined to think he’ll go with the players he feels give him the best shot, not whether or not they are Americans.
Gomez and Pachuca (and the entire Mexican league) haven’t been playing. This is the first matchweek of the Clausura, and Pachuca plays Sunday.
Gomez could be scoring goals soon though; Cvitanich isn’t with Pachuca any more, his loan expired, so that could mean more minutes for Gomez.
This will definitely push more interest for Spector’s goods. Hope he signs for a club in the Bundesliga now rather than end of the season.
Any news on Gomez. Is he scoring any goals for Pachuca? Only decent striker we have is Altidore and he barely gets mins at Villarreal. Hope Bunbury and Agudelo earn their stripes in the u-20 cause we will need them for sure next year and on.
Given Villa’s place in the league table…should we believe our lying eyes or coach’s rep?
Yeah the guy is desperately trying to hold onto a job but as with benching Spector – how’s that working out for Grant? : )
+1 waaaahhh i want lichaj hes so good nothing is his fault houllier is an amateurrrrrr
so then maybe it was a good move on houlliers part?
It is not as annoying as the constant claims of anti-Americanism every time a player from the US is benched for playing poorly.
I agree totally, I think the Bundesliga offers plenty of options for Americans. Hopefully Beas gets more minutes with Hannover in the second half of the season.
Yep, I think his attacking qualities far outweigh his defensive ones, and its a shame West Ham has been such a poor team in recent years. I’ve been rooting for him these past couple of years but its hard to when he makes the errors he does on defense. I remember watching him against Turkey in Philadelphia, his runs forward were great but then he’d get burned when he was playing back.
Here’s hoping he leaves West Ham soon.
Am I the only one who finds it incredibly annoying when people phonetically spell out Lichaj’s name? What are they trying to prove?
+1 yeah Bundesliga matches play style and ability of more than a few American players, some who seem to prefer to struggle elsewhere.
If I was Spector I’d be in Germany already, he’s doing OK now in limited minutes back on the field, but he could hope for consitent playing time and another step up in consistent quality play from him.
Spector’s a flexible journeyman type player, who can perform adequately at midfield and fill in across the backline….not as consistently adequately as in his youth.
Anyway, I’d think quite a few Bundesliga squads could use a fill-in player like that, whose price can’t be that high.
+1 jajajaja 🙂
That guy is from Brazil, his name is Leandro Augusto, plays for Pumas in the Mexican league, he is still with them like in that picture, and now that Pumas’ long time goalie has retired this guy is one of their more iconic longest tenured players.
It’s funny he is naturalized Mexican, and played in Mexico’s early qualifying games under Sven-Goran Eriksson. I think he started in the game vs the US in Columbus?
Word.
Is that Brek Shea’s long lost sibling in the photo?
Ives are you going to make an MLS Combine running commentary? Might be kinda cool since they are streaming it on mlssoccer.com
He wasn’t. He was great against the Spurs, which Houllier seems to have selectively forgotten, and the entire team had a horrific game against Man City, but he was scapegoated by the manager to the press (which seemed inappropriate to me). He did have a bad game, especially with the penalty he gave away, but so did the rest of the defense-the CBs were non-existent at times and a lot of Lichaj’s mistakes came when he was covering for them.
This makes me wonder if something is going on behind the scenes that we’re just not privy to. I hope the kid makes it out on loan-he has too much potential to not even be makin it to the bench.
I’ve never been so down after a Villa win. I really don’t like where this team is going under Houllier.
Lichaj has looked at least as good as Walker, especially considering that Eric played against much better competition. Lichaj appears faster and is a slightly better 1 v 1 defender. They both move forward very well.
I was thinking the same thing was Lichaj that bad? He played well vs. Spurs that they moved bale to the other side and he finally scored. I know gave up a pen vs. Man City but i thought he was covering for the CB’s. We are not around to him train but one bad game does not make a relegation to 4th string make.
He’s had 3 starts one unbelievable game againt the Spurs , A solid came in the Carling Cup and one poor game on 3 days rest agains Man City. I wish more guys would go to Germany.
cup tied
Sorry to say it, but it looks like Lichaj might have some trouble getting back into the team. This kid Walker looks the business today. On another note, glad to see my team finally sacked Hodgson. Would like to see Kenny til the end of the season, then bring in Michael Laudrup. The guy has coached Getafe into Europe in a difficult La Liga the last 4 years. They play some of the best football in the league. It might be a longshot but I’d like to see them take a chance on him. Just sayin’
Walker soccer, which means Eric may never see the pitch again and this is it spite the fact that Walker has made so poor players and the AV defense still sucks. They have benefited from some favorable refereeing or they could be ties or losing.
Anyone know why Guzan is not even on the bench for Hull?
Eric Lichaj absolutely must seek a loan or transfer move now. How he fell out of favor this bad with Houllier (Not even making the bench in a Cup game) is beyond me and shows Houllier’s incompetence. To add insult to injury, newcomer and position rival at RB Kyle Walker started and scored less than 10 minutes into his Villa debut 🙁
My bad – Lichaj not on the bench.
Great save by Friedel on a bicycle kick attempt by Sheffield Utd! AV d today has been shaky… maybe too many morning meat pies. Put Lichaj in gosh darnit
It’s gotten a bit annoying, really. I know that Houllier doesn’t like him, but considering the way that the Aston Villa defense has been looking, I can’t help but think that giving a guy who shut down Bale another chance couldn’t hurt.
Yeah. Kyle Walker on loan from Spurs gets the start. Lichaj got called out/blamed by Houllier for a recent EPL battering so maybe he’s in the doghouse for a bit. Maybe a loan for the 2h of the season is in order.
Not even on the bench. Anti-American coach, good thing he’ll be out soon
If he’s not in Grant’s plans for the future, hopefully he’ll allow him to pursue other options this month. I think Specs could be in the USMNT future if he can get back on the field consistently
Agreed, it’s a shame he’s been riding the pine in the league though.
No Lee-high today……Boo…
Nice one from Jonny Specs!!
And now Spector has three goals in all competitions. I’m glad to see him performing on some level after the ups and downs he’s had this past year