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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

AaronRamseyFulham1 (Getty)

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

A handful of intriguing English Premier League matchups and the opening two fixtures in the new Serie A season highlight a long Soccer Saturday lineup.

The day will start in London, where city rivals Fulham and Arsenal will square off at Craven Cottage. Fulham pulled out a grinding 1-0 victory last weekend at Sunderland, and the Cottagers return home to face an Arsenal squad looking to bounce back in the league. After their 3-1 loss at home on opening day, the shorthanded Gunners posted an impressive road shutout of Turkish side Fenerbahce in a crucial first leg of their Champions League playoff.

The side that beat Arsenal to kick off their EPL season, Aston Villa, will wrap up the English action with a home match against Liverpool. The Villans were not able to make it two-for-two on the road to start the year, falling to Chelsea during the midweek. Liverpool will look to take advantage of any tiredness from their hosts, who are led by striker Christian Benteke.

Also on Saturday, Mario Balotelli and AC Milan will host newly promoted Hellas Verona in the season’s first Serie A match. Milan are also coming off a first playoff leg in the Champions League, but they were not able to grab a road victory like Arsenal did on Wednesday. The Rossoneri’s match will be followed up by an interesting fixture for rivals Juventus. The defending champions will travel to face Sampdoria, a side that beat them in both league meetings last season.

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):

7:45am – NBC Sports Network/mun2 – Fulham vs. Arsenal

9:30am – GolTV – Bayern Munich vs. FC Nurnberg

10am – NBC Sports Network – Southampton vs. Sunderland

11am – Univision Deportes – Valenciennes vs. Olympique Marseille

12pm – beIN Sport USA – Hellas Verona vs. AC Milan

12:30pm – NBC – Aston Villa vs. Liverpool

12:30pm – GolTV – Hertha Berlin vs. Hamburg

1pm – beIN Sport en Español – Elche vs. Real Sociedad

2pm – Univision Deportes – Lyon vs. Reims

2pm – Fox Sports 2 – FC Kansas City vs. Portland Thorns

2:45pm – beIN Sport USA – Sampdoria vs. Juventus

3pm – beIN Sport en Español – Espanyol vs. Valencia

5pm – beIN Sport en Español – Villarreal vs. Real Valladolid

6pm – Univision Deportes – Club America vs. Morelia

7pm – MLS Direct Kick – Montreal Impact vs. Houston Dynamo

7pm – MLS Direct Kick – D.C. United vs. Toronto FC

7pm – One World Sports/SNY – New York Cosmos vs. San Antonio Scorpions

8pm – UniMas – Tigres UANL vs. Chiapas

8pm – Univision Deportes – Atlante vs. Pachuca

8pm – Fox Sports 2 – Western New York Flash vs. Sky Blue FC

9pm – MLS Direct Kick – Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy

9pm – MLS Direct Kick – FC Dallas vs. San Jose Earthquakes

9:05pm – Telemundo – Club Leon vs. Monterrey

9:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Real Salt Lake vs. Columbus Crew

10pm – Univision Deportes – Atlas vs. Pumas UNAM

Comments

    • I must be in the minority in this thread, but if I was Bradley, I would go nowhere near Sunderland. You play for Roma, you live in Roma..stay in Roma! At least the play proper football.

      Reply
      • Yeah, I think people are getting silly since he isn’t an automatic starter, but he will see the field plenty, and there is nothing to say he won’t be starting a lot if he plays well. Sunderland look pretty bad.

  1. Sturridge! with a tremendous effort juking in the box to beat his defender, round Guzan and put away the poke top shelf. In just over a half season, definitely delivering ROI.

    Reply
  2. The Liverpool v. AV announcers mentioned Guzan has not kept a clean sheet in 24 matches. Ummm… context here would help as AV’s defense was horrid last season.

    Reply
      • They were discussing some of the blowouts last year, and then how the team rallied to stay in the PL. Then mentioned how important it was to keep Benteke. Really were not dogging Guzan, but not praising him either. The comment didn’t really fit the discussion in my opinion. More like the guy had a stat someone had given him, and he was looking for a place to insert it into the conversation.

      • are you criticizing Guzan now? In the first 25 minutes of this game, AV has only been in Liverpool’s final third for a minute, maybe, in the match, literally

        could soon be a shooting gallery in AV’s area, which is what happened last year.

        possession numbers on this game so far must be tremendously one sided in Liverpool’s favor

    • Did not see the game but it appears his club coach played him out of position again for the second weak in row at left back 🙂

      People, Fabian Johnson is a left back and it is absolutely crazy when Klinsmann has an excellent LB like FJ to play DaMacus Beasley there and move FJ to LW, where Fabian is not nearly as good as he is at LB and where we already have plenty of good options from guys who play midfield for their clubs.

      P.S. Anyone know whether Geoff Cameron also played out of position today at right back again for the second week in a row 🙂

      Reply
  3. I think Sky Sports is taking the piss a bit: their ratings for Sunderland

    Jozy: 7 Performed his lone striker role well, but could have scored. (yeah, one chipped ball maybe…)
    Adam Johnson: 7 Constantly posed a threat on the counter attack. (hardly)
    Larsson: 7 Wonderful set-pieces again from the Swede. (sure for the goal but after that…ever?)
    Gardner: 5 Seemed overwhelmed in the middle of the park. (now that I’ll buy)

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  4. The bigger problem for Sunderland today was that the midfield couldn’t string 2 passes together for whole half hour stretches. Jozy underwhelmed on the few occasions he actually had a reasonable chance (and he went down way too easy to Fonte on several occasions) but you have to wonder if he lost some sharpness/concentration just based on how the team was playing as a whole.

    Reply
    • I agree. When you are completely taken out of a game due to lack of support, it would be easy to lose focus with the terrible football going on around you. Heck, I know I was about to doze off a few times. I am not jumping on the Sunderland relegation wagon yet, but they need to get things fixed soon. Their upcoming stretch of matches is brutal. We are about to find out how mature Jozy has become.

      Signing Bradley would be huge. He is the kind of player they need to make that midfield relevant.

      Reply
    • +1

      midfield ridiculousness, awful. And it’s pretty hard to protect a 1-0 lead for basically 90 minutes. Lucky to get a point today is DiCanio

      Reply
    • Disappointing outing for Jozy. He was only okay on the ball whereas he was dominant last week. He missed a good (albeit difficult) chance to chip the keeper. Tough to get that ball up and over at a full run chipping it in the opposite direction, but it was possible. Awful job by the Sunderland midfield today, though. They allowed Southhampton to utterly dominate the ball.

      Reply
      • I know away games are hard but… so many teams do this. They don’t even attempt to play away from home. I really don’t understand why.

  5. This is the second Sunderland match now where anytime they get anywhere near the final third someone takes a 35 yarder that goes no where near target.

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  6. Jozy would’ve been a better fit with Southampton. He can only hope that when Fletcher gets back, Sunderland will play 4-4-2 and he’ll be more effective, as is often the case when the U.S. switches to the traditional formation. You have to wonder why Sunderland is even bothering to hit long balls when they land nowhere near the target.

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  7. Sunderland looks like an excellent candidate to get relegated….now it’s easy to tell why the bookies had good odds that DiCanio will be the first manager fired this season. As to Jozy, unfortunately I think he was among the worst performers on the field today….he was barely running in the second half and looked absolutely clueless. Will be interesting how the team gets configured when Fletcher comes back….if Jozy doesn’t start scoring, he may find himself on the bench.

    Reply
      • Well they did create A chance and they did score it to get a point on the road. It’s just that everything else was crap.

    • It’s hard to watch our beloved Jozy struggle, especially considering his recent (crunk) form.

      *i am not amongst the doom and gloom for Sunderland observers….yet. I still have hope that sunderland will get it together. But it still hurts to watch Altidore play in such an urgly setup so far.

      Reply
      • Southampton tried to play football last year.Sunderlnand under Oneil not so much.Paulo is trying to change the style of play.That will take some time.

    • I’ll agree, but the first two games have been very ugly, and Jozy up top all alone is a real stretch, especially defensively when he’s asked to chase by himself. Ugly performance from Sunderland, and Jozy is starved

      Reply
      • We’re there any decent stk’s on the bench.Does Paulo play Jozy by himself out of choice or neccesity? Maybe when Fletcher comes back they play up top together and look like a diff team going fwd.

      • Sounds exactly like the USMNT before Brian Straus did his famous player mutiny article in March, and then Klinsmann finally quit stubbornly playing 3 d-mids and became more flexible and let the guys run and gun. Maybe Straus should do a news article on the Sunderland situation.

  8. Sunderland have made a move for Bradley?
    awesome. Sunderland are lost in the MF.
    Jozy’s will certainly develop his hold up skills this year. You could see his frustration today at being stranded.

    Reply
  9. It’s early, but not too early too see Sunderland’s lack of quality. They made Southampton look like Barcelona. Hull 2.0 indeed. It will be interesting to see Sunderland vs Hull later on.

    Reply
  10. What coach is letting their players shoot on target from that angle?! Feed the ball into pack and look for a header.

    And then Westwood kickballs it to the other keeper–missing Jozy by probably 40 yards.

    This team isn’t fit for the premier league.

    Reply
      • Hyperbole?

        This team will be relegated. They could be relegated by a third of the way into the season. Their upcoming schedule?

        13 games including Man City, Man United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Swansea and Stoke.

  11. Boy is this going to be a long season for Altidore. Sunderland plays such unattractive futbol! It’s really kickball 101… Very disappointing.

    Reply
  12. Jozy will be in trouble when Sunderland get Fletcher back unless they move to a 4-4-2. Really disappointed by him today, not really fighting much even though the service has lacked at times. On another note, if Sunderland don’t strength the middle of the park they will be playing in the championship. The Red Bulls have a better starting midfield pair than they do

    Reply
  13. For a BIG guy, Jozy falls down A LOT. We’ve always known he’s had that side of him, but I was really really hoping he would cut that stuff out when he made his big move to Sunderland. Show more maturity and fight son.

    Reply
    • I prefer to think of this all as being evidence that Jozy has learned a lot more tactics in recent years. Let’s not forget the situation on the field – his team is protecting a one-goal lead on the road. To eat up a few seconds after being fouled strikes me as fairly savvy.

      Reply
      • Well I’ll agree to disagree then. Being fouled and going down too easy in my eyes are different. And the ref seems to agree with me a lot today because he’s called maybe 2 of those.

      • Think your observation for *this match* is spot on. Jozy is not getting bulldozed or clattered, as Font has for sure played him tough but not blatant fouling. Guessing also the ref sees Jozy waving his hands and not just getting on with play.

      • And just to be clear, I adore Altidore. I was just hoping he had turned a page in regards to this one issue. He has clearly shown to be almost unplayable when he uses his physicality to his advantage.

    • And though Boruc came off his line quickly, Jozy should’ve done better there as that chance, to your point, may be the only time the ball is slipped through to put him in on goal.

      Looks like match is opening up so hope he gets another crack.

      Reply
  14. Jozy will to learn in the EPL you don’t have time to take that extra touch. When you are in the box with the ball and you have the chance to take a shot take it. You don’t have time to settle the ball on your feet and get the perfect shot off.

    Reply
  15. You’ve heard of DEFCON? Well now there’s HULLCON–how close Sunderland is to achieving Hull-esque futility and lack of cohesion.

    We’re currently at HULLCON 3. If the second half and next match mirror what we’ve seen so far… we’ll upgrade to HULLCON 1.

    Reply
  16. Magpies giving master class in how to piss away goal attempts. If this was the NFL we’d be up 9-0 at least with all our field goals.

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  17. Jozy not able to do much. Little if any service and Saints have 3 men around him any time he sees the ball.

    PDC needs to change his tactics or this will be Hull City Mach 2 for Jozy, I’m afraid.

    Reply
    • Can’t really be too mad at Jozy. There is zero support for him up top and I swear the Sunderland midfielder are allergic of the ball. I get so sick of seeing them bomb it away every time, especially when the long passes aren’t accurate.

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      • It’s incredible how bad some of these passes are. It should come at no surprise that the mid-to-lower table clubs in La Liga and Bundesliga are far beyond their English counterparts in terms of quality, talent and efficient play.

        I had forgotten what lower table EPL games looked like. There were 4 of 5 long balls in the second part of that half which couldn’t have been closer than 30 yards from Jozy.

        They can’t even complete a pass in the midfield. It’s embarrassing to watch.

    • Agreed, I dont like what I see from them as a whole, granted as I understand they have brought in many new player so they may need time to gel but they cant seem to keep hold of the ball in any form. Jozy looks similar to the whole team, just meh.

      Reply
  18. If the Bradley rumor is true, Sunderland needs to make it happen. They have no control in the midfield and it shows with their lack of possession. They are a pretty frustrating side to watch so far. Jozy really needs service.

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    • Frustrating is right.

      This is just really awful football. The number of long balls that don’t come within 10 yards of an attacking player make me want to pull my hair out.

      Ill take a slower, prettier MLS game over this garbage every day.

      Reply
  19. Jozy finally getting a little service. Not able to do much given the Southhampton marking in the box.

    So far, and it is *early*, this Sunderland 4-4-1-1 doesn’t seem to consistently (arguably struggling) get width.

    Reply
  20. This game combined with last week is painting a poor picture of what this season will be for Jozy.

    I see a lot of post game summaries reading as such … “great hold up play from the large American striker, but he rarely found the ball at his feet.”

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  21. Could not believe the commentators would even think to claim that Aaron Ramsey is better than Santi Cazorla. Just crazy talk about everything UK.

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  22. Nonsense like this is why English fans think their players are so great when they aren’t.

    I don’t care how much money Barclay’s pays to name the man of the match–it was in no way, shape or form Aaron Ramsey. Take your pick from Giroud or Podolski with the brace or more importantly Cazorla.

    And then for the Brit commentators to claim Ramsey is Arsenals best player? My god its a giant UK delusion.

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    • For a laugh, do a Twitter search on Ramsey.

      There are some fans calling him one of the best players in the world. I don’t even know how to handle this type of behavior.

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    • I think Ramsey was actually very good today. And while I agree with your overall comment about English fans, I think there is a cultural prejudice to look for guys who do the hard, dirty work – the center backs and holding mids in particular. That is not entirely a bad thing. Go back ten years to an Arsenal – Man U clash and it would be portrayed as Vieria vs Keane. And that was not far wrong because both of those guys did the work that let the rest of their team mates play attacking soccer.

      I think part of the response to Ramsey so far is that he has played far better than he did last year and that he has stepped into a position of need in the deep mid role. I don’t think it’s an entirely unreasonable pick, although I might have gone with Gioud who made some impressive defensive plays as well, just as Fulhma started applying pressure.

      Reply
  23. Specs is back out on the pitch today starting after 6 weeks out with a facial injury. He’ll have his work cut out for him as BCFC have sold most of the rest of their good players this summer.

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    • The hand-wringing over the US right back position without Dolo puzzles me. That is one position where we have plenty of depth. Specs is one option. So is Lichaj. Then you have Cameron regularly starting there, in the EPL, Chandler, Parkhurst and Dolo is likely to be playing in a few months. Almost every one of those players can also play other positions, like defensive mid, winger or left back. That’s as deep as any position we have.

      Reply
    • I had not heard about this rumor….interesting. Not sure what I would think about this move. Some positives, some negatives.

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    • Doesn’t seem to make sense from MB’s perspective, but he’s exactly the type of player PDC is looking for. Roker has thrown out a ton of names for that spot but none of them has worked out yet.

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      • I think that regardless of whether this is true or not, Bradley is at the bottom of their (Roma) midfield pecking order. If he could parlay his preseason form into a spot with Jozy in the premiership? Money.

      • The man was a first choice starter last season, and all indications are he will be again this season. Not sure where people get the idea that he is barely hanging in the squad. People said the same about Dempsey last year and statistically he was one of Tottenham’s best offensive players, and anecdotally he score their most important goals of the season (first win at Man U in 40 years!). may move one day, but I seriously doubt it will be because he is being pushed out.

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