FC Barcelona is struggling.
Yes, I know that sounds crazy to even read, but by their standards, the reigning European and La Liga champions are struggling after giving up late leads in consecutive draws last week. We will find out how Pep Guardiola's side will respond to those disappointments today when Barca takes on Osasuna in what should be one of today's more entertaining games (if only for the potential for a Barcelona romp).
There aren't a ton of high-profile European match-ups today, with Inter-Roma being one of the exceptions, but MLS has a handful of truly enticing games on the slate, led by the Real Salt Lake-Sporting Kansas City match. D.C. United travels to Seattle in another great clash, while the New York Red Bulls are in must-win mode against a tough FC Dallas side.
If you will be watching today's action, please feel 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
7:45 a.m. - ESPN2/ESPN3.com - Blackburn vs. Arsenal
8 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Nottingham Forest vs. Derby County
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Bayer Leverkusen vs. FC Cologne
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Aston Villa vs. Newcastle
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Wolverhampton vs. Queens Park Rangers
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv/Fox Deportes - Everton vs. Wigan Athletic
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Bolton vs. Norwich City
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Swansea City vs. West Brom
12 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Deportes - Cagliari vs. Novara
12 p.m. - DirecTV - Sporting Gijon vs. Valencia
12 p.m. - DirecTV - Granada vs. Villarreal
12 p.m. - DirecTV - Mallorca vs. Malaga
12:30 p.m. - GOLTV - Kaiserslautern vs. Mainz 05
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Valenciennes vs. Dijon
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Nice vs. Ajaccio
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Auxerre vs. Caen
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Brest vs. Montpellier
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Lorient vs. St. Etienne
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Toulouse vs. Bordeaux
1:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Toronto FC vs. Colorado Rapids
2 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Barcelona vs. Osasuna
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes - Inter Milan vs. Roma
4 p.m. - GOLTV - Sevilla vs. Real Sociedad
4 p.m. - Telefutura - Chicago Fire vs. Chivas USA
6 p.m. - Telemundo - Monterrey vs. Cruz Azul
6 p.m. - Telefutura - Jaguares vs. America
7 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - USA vs. Canada (Women's friendly)
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Philadelphia Union vs. Columbus Crew
8 p.m. - GOLTV - Irapuato vs. Merida
8 p.m. - Telefutura - Pachuca vs. Atlas
8 p.m. - Telemundo - Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Puebla
8:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - FC Dallas vs. New York Red Bulls
8:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Houston Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes
9 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Real Salt Lake vs. Sporting Kansas City
9 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Seattle Sounders vs. D.C. United
9:45 p.m. - Galavision - San Luis vs. Santos Laguna
10 p.m. - Telefutura - Atlante vs. Tigres UANL
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
Barca up 8-0 now
5′ Lionel Messi
13′ Francesc Fabregas
34′ David Sanchez Villa
40′ Rubén González Rocha own goal
41′ Lionel Messi
57′ Xavi Hernandez
76′ David Sanchez Villa
79′ Lionel Messi
Barca at 80%+ possession today though..
Deserved a red for sure, really terrible challenge with no regard for a fellow player
Lucio just kicked the Roma keeper Stekelenburg in the face as the keeper lunged for the ball and got there first. Lucio with a yellow, Stekelenburg taken off. Lucio lucky not to be sent off.
Findley definitely deserves a look in Oct., and is a couple years youngers than Buddle/Gomez
Lazy blows
5-0 Barcelona after 40 minutes. I’m switching over to Inter-Roma, but I’m now fascinated to see how many they score? They could get 12 the way it’s going.
*edit* (i originally wrote 40 when I meant 50)
Most amusing about Barcelona on espn3 is listening to Tommy Smyth and whoever the commentator are crtitiquing Barcelona. 3-0, should be at least 5 and probably more.
Good points.
Yeah, but when Arsenal were winning trophies, they also had one of the two or three best DMs in the world (Vieira) at his peak, as well as Sol Campbell in the center of their defense, plus Pires and Ljungberg at their bests.
It’s impossible to overestimate just how good Henry was back then, but it’s equally important to remember that they had other players who were among the world’s best at their respective positions. Now they’ve got a makeshift backline with one regular (Sagna) who plays regularly for his national team, another regular for Germany (Mertesacker) whom they’re in the process of integrating, and two stiffs whenever Vermaelen’s injured, which seems to be a common-enough occurrence. Their midfield has one player with a TON of potential (Wilshire) and several good-but-not-great players, and RvP up front, who actually is excellent and even world-class on his day.
One thing I keep wondering about Arsenal, though: given how often Vermaelen, Wilshire, Ramsey, RvP, and even Cesc before he left are injured, why don’t Arsenal just fire their trainers and bring in a new crew? I realize that some of those injuries, such as Ramsey’s, were the result of a vicious tackle, but most of those players are just injured on a regular basis. More has to be done to help them stay healthy.
I could see Europe being filled with cheap American players in 20 years maybe even a few on top teams like Man U or Inter Milan
Don’t see either of those things happening tbh
That’s a bit wishful.
This aswell….
If you look at it from the MLS pov…
if MLS continues to improve and get more DP’s & god forbid the league doesnt fold, in 20 years teams like LA will have a starting 11 as good as those top teams in the Bundesliga, EPL, & Serie A easily as long as they have the money to fund such players (which is why I used LA as an example)
The challenge is and will be obtaining work permits. The UK is going to stronger work visa laws too, so that doesn’t help. Many players could make the move now but they don’t have the international caps to do it.
Work permit issues.
No because MLS in itself will probably improve to PL standards in 20 years or atleast close to… so more top American talent will stay.
you’re obviously not aware of Findley being in form atm. He has scored goals and been playing like Forest’s best striker. EJ is completely out of contract with any club and shouldnt be in the conversation at all. As for Wondo, he was golden boot winner of MLS last season and his struggles this season are to do with SJ imo than him. SJ is a far worse team than they were last season…
Personally I think too much is made of Arsenal’s and Barcelona’s possession….when Arsenal were winning all those trophies they had the world’s best player at his peak….Barcelona are winning every trophy imaginable and they have the world’s best player at his peak. You need the players first, tactics come second. (Just my opinion, just my opinion….I know it’s blasphemy around here to denounce Possession as anything less than God’s gift to soccer, world peace, love, and happiness, but anyway….)
can anyone see in 20 years the PL being filled with American players. Guys from MLS, even guys right out of college. especially on the cheap
Who needs an expensive striker when you have Leon Best? 😉
Massive point for Newcastle after they got scored on early. They pressured most of the game and Cabaye alone could have won the game a few times there.
leon best is mint
Oh, forget challenging any of those three. Arsenal will be lucky to land the Europa league spot, and it’d take a full-blown miracle for them to grab the last CL spot.
You and me both. WTF Arsenal?!?!
Right now Arsenal is like the old police car that Elwood drives in “The Blues Brothers,” after the brothers arrive in Chicago at the end.
All out attacking can work if you’re Barca, and have players who keep possession. Arsenal is way too sloppy with the ball these days. When you are dependent on such mercurial players (hi there, Alex Song) capable of brilliance and boneheaded mistakes back to back, Arsenal is too vulnerable on the counter to turn the ball over as much as they do. Cmon, Blackburn destroyed them on the counter today, can you imagine what a good team would do? Someone’s going to hang double digits on Arsenal this season, if that line doesn’t gel ASAP.
man is this villa-newcastle game hard to watch. they can’t seem to connect no more than 2-3 passes after the midfield line…..and mls gets so much crap for their standard of play but the epl leaves A LOT to be desired many times!
Good tactics and quality in the midfield/attack can only account for so much – you have to have a solid backline and MAN are Arsenal lacking in that department.
However, Barcelona have also shown themselves to not be so immaculate at the back whenever their opponents get the chance to look at them. To deal with this, press the opponent on defense, attempting to win the ball high up the field away from their defence and reduce the amount of time and space on the ball the opponent has to expose their backline. Moreover, they retain the ball well, meaning their opponent sees even less possession.
That’s no offense to Barcelona’s backline, but it’s part of the reason Pep Guardiola isn’t averse to playing good ball handling defensive midfielders at centerback. They help his team pass out of the back and hold the ball even longer.
Dempsey to score a hat-trick tomorrow
P.S. I have this feeling Clint is leaving come next summer
so why did Bocanegra and Bedoya join Rangers? And will Rangers use having 3 US internationals to their advantage and go for a US tour next summer?
so our strikers at the moment are
Jozy- our only in-form striker capable of scoring in tournaments
Bunbury, Agudelo- young, raw but improving guys who might fare better for the u-23 team rather than NT atm
Buddle, Gomez. 2 solid strikers but they’re nearly 30 and inconsistent
EJ, Findley, Wondo- completely garbage
Just saw the Arsenal v Blackburn highlights. For a neutral, looked like an entertaining battle. Though early in the EPL season, looks likely (not saying certain) Arsenal will struggle to challenge Man U, City and Chelsea.
arsenal has blown my mind…..between being a huge fan of them and RBNY, i am literally going to need a noose soon
He will continue his comeback in the Carling Cup on Tuesday v Aston Villa from what I read this morning.
There was an article on SBI earlier stating that he will play in the Carling Cup next wk Tues.
Bolton said his first action with the first team will be on Tuesday.
No holden in the squad, according to soccernet.
Anybody seeing lineups yet for Bolton (I’m on iPhone so a bit tougher)? Holden on the bench at least?
4-3 Arsenal, Chamakh with a good header.
Nice header by Chamakh. We have ourselves a game again.
Arse-n-al is in for a looong season!
Haha
4-2 Blackburn, another own goal. Don’t blame the defender for it, I agree with McManaman.
no, 6 pm Kansas City (CT) time, so 7 p.m. ET.
The link on US Soccer says Fox Soccer is televising
http://www.ussoccer.com/Schedule-Tickets/Schedule.aspx
Third goal was offsides, but that doesn’t explain the other two, the 2nd one in particular.
Arsenal are always good for a LOL.
9pm ET – late but I’ll watch if it’s streaming. Says ESPN3 has it on, but I can’t find it. Any other streams?
Derby County at 10 men. Hope see Findley early in second half for Nottingham Forest.
I’m liking Ars v Blackburn – fun wide open game. Lots more goals in the 2nd half.
Why no thread yet for the US Foxy Babes, who are now Vice World Cup champions and play a friendly today against Canada in Kansas City? Some of us also love the USWNT and the way they fought in WC 2011 in Germany. Certainly they deserve their own thread for today’s match.
Wait…Arsenal conceded to go back to a draw??? shocker.
C’mon Arsenal!!!!
Come on you Gunners!!!!!! I got up this early so let’s win haha