By IVES GALARCEP
As tough as it is to think of handing a club a league title just three weeks into a season, Manchester City has a chance to really make a statement with a win at Goodison Park against a tough Everton side.
Man City puts its perfect record on the line in a clash against an Everton side that has yet to lose a match either. Led by Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley in attack, and Tim Howard and John Stones in defense, the Toffees have the wherewithal to keep the Citizens from starting the season 3-0.
In Spain, title contenders Barcelona and Real Madrid kick off their league campaigns. Barcelona faces the same Athletic Bilbao side that recently defeated the Catalans in the Spanish Cup Winners Cup. Real Madrid will signal the debut of manager Rafa Benitez, who is already facing plenty of pressure to produce.
In Germany, U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Alfredo Morales will look to help newly-promoted FC Ingolstadt maintain its impressive start with an upset win against Borussia Dortmund. Ingolstadt opened the season with a road win against Mainz, but Dortmund will offer a significantly tougher test.
The marquee match of the weekend in MLS takes place in California, where New York City FC takes on the LA Galaxy in one of the most star-studded matches in the league’s relatively brief history.
If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today’s Soccer TV schedule is after the jump):
SUNDAY’S SOCCER ON TV
8 a.m. — beIN Sports USA — Lille vs. Bordeaux
8:30 a.m. — USA Network/NBC Sports Live Extra — West Brom vs. Chelsea
9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go/Fox Sports 1 — Ingolstadt vs. Borussia Dortmund
11 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra/Telemundo — Everton vs. Manchester City
11 a.m. — DirecTV/NBC Sports Live Extra — Watford vs. Southampton
11:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go/Fox Sports 2 — Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Mainz 05
12:30 p.m. — beIN Sports USA — Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona
1 p.m. — ESPN3 — Chicago State vs. Cleveland State
1 p.m. — Univision Deportes/Univision — Puma UNAM vs. Dorados
2:30 p.m. — beIN Sports USA — Sporting Gijón vs. Real Madrid
3 p.m. — ESPN/ESPN Deportes — LA Galaxy vs. New York City FC
4 p.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Edmonton vs. Fort Lauderdale Strikers
4:30 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Levante vs. Celta de Vigo
4:30 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español — Real Betis vs. Villarreal
6 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Puebla vs. Pachuca
I think Kreis might be under the microscope soon it not already. I don’t see City owners being that patient and that was just 90 minutes of embarrassment.
RSL did a lot better with Kreis than after he left. I doubt he forgot how to coach in one year. Meanwhile, due to their star filled lineup, they draw well in Yankee Stadium. I would guess he has at least another season before the pressure starts.
personally i give him the “Chivas USA test”; is the club better or worse than Chivas USA was? if better then one more year to assess, if worse then fire the coach.
NYC passes.
I think lleget looks international quality and needs a call up. Meanwhile mix is a total non factor in mls.
While I was at it I’d go ahead and call back Robbie Rogers, too. Lletget and Rogers work really well together on that left side and we’re definitely in the market for a left back too. If they work together half as well for the Nats as they did for LA today, why complicate things?
Not sold on Garza yet, not sold at all on Timmy Chandler, Brek Shea is out hurt half the time, and I think Fabian Johnson’s best position has always been right back. Give Rogers a call.
Had my eye on Tommy McNamara for NYCFC too, but he was clearly outclassed today.
That LA Galaxy team is just scary good right now.
I agree, Rogers is at least as good as Beasley at this point.
Don’t know if Rogers is good enough for international play, but he certainly has improved a lot over the last two seasons.
I am ok with Rogers as a stop gap while we have injuries on the left. However, when healthy, I take all three (Garza,Chandler, Shea) over him. I would like to see Morrow have a run on the USMNT. However. I really want Shea to grow into the position because I think he could be lethal if it all comes together (defend, attack on the flank with speed, recovery speed, quickness and size to handle anyone)
Twellman was tearing up Mix today.
Mixx has not looked great in MLS. I will give players a year to transition into MLS, but he is not looking imposing for his DP salary. I also think that not only is he trying to figure out how to play in this league, but how to play with Lampard, Pirlo et al where he might be expected to do the dirty work, which is not his natural suit. Let’s see how he looks next year.
I love how Lleget is always the first person to the goalscorer during a goal celebration. I swear every game I watch, every goal, he’s there. Often fellow attackers are less enthusiastic than say defenders. I think the years being so close yet so far from West Hams first team really help him just appreciate the opportunity to play.
And as I type this Lletget scores.
Lletget is such a clever attacking player. The Galaxy are truly a fun team to watch overall. Keane, Gio, Zardes, Lletget, Gerrard, all working over NYC in the final third today.
IO felt embarrassed for NYFC today. It got really ugly the last 15-20 minutes.
Its not live yet on watch espn. I assume thats due to little boys playing baseball?
Chinese Taipei really laying the wood to Virginia
Why do the Asian teams always seem to be better at the fundamentals than the American teams?
Lamplard is the worst
No Lampard, yet again, in the 18 for NYCFC. BUT, there are still stars aplenty in the lineups at the StubHub. Should be a good watch/a Galaxy rollover!
I miss Dempsey and Bradley playing in Europe.
Had Dempsey stayed at Fulham or Spurs where would he be?
Had Bradley stayed at Roma could he have fought for a starting spot or got a loan at another Serie A club?
I hate the ides these guys ran home.
I think Dempsey would have clearly been the key attacking player for Fulham, as he was the last couple seasons there. Tottenam was another story, but he did produce while playing for them. If he did continue with that, it would be hard for him not to find any playing time at all, but still very unlikely that he’d be a regular starter.
Bradley at Roma is an interesting case. Even if he played very well there, the main issue for him was that he played a very similar style/role than De Rossi, and he was never going to replace him as a regular starter even if his form was better (and at times it was). Nonetheless, with injuries and European competition, Bradley would get playing time, but that’s only if he was in form (or many injuries), as Roma was willing to spend money on midfielders and Bradley was relatively cheap for them, so more of a nice insurance squad player who could motivate others. So I could never see him as a lock for a regular starter with De Rossi, but he easily could have started in roughly 1/2 the games and made an appearence in a lot of others, depending on tactics, #games and injuries. Not too shabby.
Dempsey did better then Soldado anyway.
and Soldado only scored a few more than Jozy; all three must be terrible!!! lol jk
Lol…yeah instead he made $40m by coming to MLS. Not too shabby. And I don’t see why we should lament the fact that now we can watch these guys in person.
What if Germany had won the Battle of the Bulge and driven all the way to Antwerp? What if Japan had won the Battle of Midway? I think those were even more important than Bradley and Dempsey.
Ouch. Timmy nutmeged by Kolarov there on a tight angle. And then 2 mins later with a good save on Navas who had beat 2 defenders into the box.
Tim Howard tried to cheat the cross and got caught, but my was that a good shot by Kolarov
Perhaps I’m merely just now noticing but the weirdest sight of the day is Sagna with short hair….
Everton’s new signing Ramiro Mori from River Plate (a possible replacement for Stones) has an interesting background: his family moved to Texas in 2001 so he was eligible for the USA, however he has appeared in one friendly for Argentina. So has his twin brother, who is a striker.
I think this has been covered a few times and from what I remember both brothers are ineligible for the US.
Well it’s new to me I guess. Ramiro’s wiki page says he was eligible, however we know that’s not the most reliable source.
He was in the FC Dallas youth sytem before River Plate snatched him up.
does his ARG app cap-tie him? just curious
Sexy backheel by Morales. Good play to set up a galf decent shot.
he plays cdm for them right? or more of a roaming CM?
Anyone want to cover the ingolstadt dortmond match?
Zeros at the half. Dortmund in near total control. Morales doesn’t look much worse than the rest of his team.
Ingolstadt looking lively early on in the second half. Morales does well to push the ball into the box, back heel flick leads to a shot that the keeper *just* pushes wide. You still get the sense that Ingolstadt lack the quality to finish against Dortmund.
Ginter scores the first for Dortmund
Penalty. Reus buries it 2 – 0… And I’m going to brew coffee for Howard v. City.
Anyone know whats happening with Joe Gyau and Junior Flores? Are they healthy? Are they getting time with Dortmund II?