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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

Wenger Mourinho

 

By SBI SOCCER

Chelsea isn’t out of the month of September, but the Blues appear to have run out of room for error.

That is what a woeful start to the English Premier League campaign will do to you after five weeks. Chelsea faces London rivals Arsenal in the weekend’s most high-profile match and Jose Mourinho’s side can’t afford to drop any more points if it wants to hold on to any faint hopes of defending its EPL title.

The Gunners would love nothing more than to bury Chelsea even further, especially given the heated rivalry between Mourinho and Arsene Wenger. The Gunners will be focused on erasing the bad taste of a surprising UEFA Champions League loss to Dinamo Zagreb.

In Spain, Real Madrid limps into a clash against Granada without injured stars Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale, but Cristiano Ronaldo is poised to break Raul’s record for goals scored with the club.

In MLS, the Cascadia clash between Western Conference leaders Vancouver and Seattle headlines the action here at home. The Whitecaps have their sights set on the Supporters Shield, while the Sounders are trying to climb into one of the top spots in the West.

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):

SOCCER SATURDAY

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

7:45 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra — Chelsea vs. Arsenal

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Swansea City vs. Everton

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Stoke City vs. Leicester City

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Bournemouth vs. Sunderland

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Newcastle United vs. Watford

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Aston Villa vs. West Brom

12:30 p.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra — Manchester City vs. West Ham United

ENGLISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

7:30 a.m. — beIN Sports/beIN Sports en Español — Nottingham Forest vs. Middlesbrough

LA LIGA

10 a.m. — beIN Sports/beIN Sports en Español — Real Madrid vs. Granada

12:15 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español — Valencia vs. Real Betis

2:30 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español — Eibar vs. Atlético Madrid

4 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español — Real Sociedad vs. Espanyol

SERIE A

Noon — beIN Sports Connect — Udinese vs. Empoli

2:45 p.m. — beIN Sports — Milan vs. Palermon

GERMAN BUNDESLIGA

9:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 1/Fox Soccer 2Go — Darmstadt 98 vs. Bayern Munich

9:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 2/Fox Soccer 2Go — VfL Wolfsburg vs. Hertha Berlin

9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Hamburg SV vs. Eintracht Frankfurt

9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Werder Bremen vs. Ingolstadt

9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Cologne vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach

LIGUE 1

11:30 a.m. — beIN Sports — Stade de Reims vs. Paris Saint-Germain

2 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Angers vs. Troyes

2 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Bastia vs. Nice

2 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Caen vs. Montpellier

MLS

2 p.m. — MLS Live — Toronto FC vs. Colorado Rapids

7 p.m. — MLS Live — Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Seattle Sounders

7 p.m. — MLS Live/YES Network/Fox Sports Go — New York City FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes

7 p.m. — MLS Live/CSN Washington — D.C. United vs. Columbus Crew

8 p.m. — MLS Live — Montreal Impact vs. New England Revolution

8 p.m. — MLS Live/Fox Sports Florida — Chicago Fire vs. Orlando City

9:30 p.m. — MLS Live — Real Salt Lake vs. LA Galaxy

LIGA MX

6 p.m. — Univision/Univision Deportes — Cruz Azul vs. Pumas UNAM

8 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Tigres UANL vs. Monterrey

9:06 p.m. — Telemundo — León vs. Tijuana

9:30 p.m. — Azteca America — Morelia vs. América

10 p.m. — ESPN3 — Dorados vs. Pachuca

NASL

7:30 p.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Atlanta Silverbacks vs. Carolina RailHawks

7:30 p.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. Ottawa Fury

7:30 p.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Indy Eleven vs. Edmonton

7:30 p.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. San Antonio Scorpions

8 p.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Minnesota United vs. New York Cosmos

EREDIVISIE

1:45 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Heracles vs. PSV Eindhoven

NCAA MEN

7 p.m. — ESPN3 — Syracuse vs. Wake Forest

Comments

  1. I didnt even mention the petulant yellow card he was shown. Watching Toronto its amazing how much Bradley and Altidore are constantly barking at the refs and stalking them after 50/50 calls

    Reply
    • I can’t remember when a single player carried a team to the playoffs like this. TFC should just sell Bradley and Altidore and buy a center back.

      Reply
      • Wow really bro? I’m not saying jozy deserves a gold star but he did his job in those situations. Enough to where it’s silly to comically hate on him just because his teammate scored. In the games jozy has scored did u blame gio and say he played terrible?

      • Jozy is a fine striker ,I like him and am often one of the first to point out how high he ranks in goals scored for the US at the age of 25. I still think he’s probably our best option however there are going to be greater exceptions on a DP and starting national team player.

        You have to admit not throwing everything at just stopping Giovinco is a mistake. At this point you have to see if anyone else can beat you, because if you give Giovinco any space he will.

      • That’s all good and fine but tactically you still can’t just leave a man open just to go triple team someone, especially as a CB. SO then again I say, jozy wasn’t lights out but on those two plays he had a subtle influence that you look for in a striking partner to your main star. And u can’t blame that on ‘bad coaching or tactics’ or whatever. A really good striker scored two goals, to aid in those goals his striking partner made the correct runs to occupy and open up space. That’s all I’m saying. U can’t negate either strikers’ role and just say ‘they should have thrown every one at the star’ etc.

      • Sure but how does this have anything to do with negating Jozys effort? 🙂

        My only point is this: had jozy scored twice today and gio not would anyone be complaint about how gio ‘didn’t do anything all game’? No. Because some people like to just bring up jozy any way they can to then hate on him. It’s hilarious.

    • Juan couldn’t get a work permit to play in England. How well he would have done is questionable, but still.

      Biggest problem is we develop players too slow. European clubs want cheap young players they can develop for a few years and then sell on.

      Reply
    • Jack is right. We develop players very slow. When we say a player is young, like Gyasi Zardes, he isn’t actually that young in world soccer terms. He’s 24. Soccer careers are fairly short.

      Reply
  2. This refugee situation in Europe is gonna destroy the whole EU project

    Blame it all on the mess in Libya/Syria which is in turn blamed on the mess in Iraq. THANKS George Bush

    Reply
  3. I agree btw.

    Had Jozy gone to Napoli or whatever French and Italian team after him he would have done much better than at Sunderland. But $$$ talks and he went to Sunderland.

    Not sure why hes at Toronto. Honestly

    Reply
  4. Man City v WHU is cracking. Positive, pacey play from both squads. Will WHU withstand the onslaught? One of the best footie matches so far in this BPL season.

    Reply
  5. OK I watched this garbage Sunderland team to see if Yedlin plays. Yet the awful same characters are playing, and now Yedlin will not come on. Can I get my money back.

    Reply
  6. Cameron should’ve just had an assist (as a CB) on a beautiful cross from him, but two Stoke whiffs. Stoke is playing well though, as is Cameron. Starting to think he should be our CB against Mexico if he keeps this form up.

    Reply
    • Cameron has been playing well for Stoke for the last two years as a RB but for some reason JK kept playing hacks like Chandler and Evans there instead. He’s at CB now so hopefully there’s a spot for him in JK’s starting XI there. But probably “there are others ahead of him” like Ventura “not ready for prime time” Alvarado. Alvarado may be a stud by the time Russia rolls around but no way should he be playing against Mexico next month.

      Reply
  7. 10 years ago it was hard to find foreign soccer on tv.

    5 years ago it was only the PL.

    Now each weekend you can see like 3-4 games (at least if not 6-7) of each top 5 European league

    Incredible

    Reply
    • Back in the early 90s you were looking at one dutch league on ESPN2, one Serie A game on tape delay in Italian and then an hour of EPL highlights in the middle of the week.

      Reply
      • Back in the late 70s you would only get the replay of the WC’s final a week later on Wide World of Sports, Channel 7.

    • fierce runner,

      I know what you are saying, but your years are off. I would say 15 years ago because 10 years ago, I got a lot of foreign soccer (European) between Fox Sports World/Fox Soccer Channel, RAI (in NY) and ESPN (EPL, La Liga, Serie A amd Champions League)

      5 years ago, you already had EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Champions league all on TV. I was even able to catch some Eredivisie some how. However, there is more now, and it is not that expensive. I usually had to pay 10/15 dollars more a month to make sure I got everything.

      Reply
  8. First half ends with best chance from either team coming off Johannsson free kick, excellent delivery into the box leading to a header which crashed off the bar. His delivery was superb throughout the first half, really. Had a couple nice corners. Definitely his best shift in the making so far. Hopefully Yedlin gets thrown on at half time by DA.

    Reply
  9. Personally id have loved to see the likes of Dempsey playing in Italy or Spain. For say a Valencia or Roma had he avoided Spurs

    Reply
    • Dempsey wanted to stay in a English speaking country. I still think Jozy’s career would have avoided the downturn had he gone to France or Germany…but every went for the money that Sunderland threw (player and team).

      Reply
  10. How will folks ever watch and enjoy MLS if there are loads of foreign soccer on more channels than our domestic league?

    MLS need to upgrade the salary cap to at least 5 million by 2020. And 10 million by 2025. The game is growing and no way the league will fold.

    Reply
    • Even better – immediate $200m salary cap. No wait – $1billion.

      Come on. There’s plenty to complain about with MLS but the money to pay the salaries you want has to come from somewhere. To increase the salary cap from $3.5m to $10m (times 20 teams) is $130m if every team goes up to the new cap. So where’s that money coming from?

      Reply
      • I bought the MLS Live package this year. For $65 I can stream all non-national broadcast games live on my laptop or on my cell if I’m on-the-go. I can also watch any and all replays I want. I pretty much watch a game every day of the week. If you are a soccer die-hard, which I imagine you are if you’re on this website, I’d highly recommend buying in at the beginning of next season.

      • You are aware that if there’s no salary cap then a club can accept money from VCs, or just rich investors. Trust me, in the US “finding money” is not the problem… Lol. Trump could write a 300 million dollar check to his team of choice and instantly that team could buy quality players….

      • You took his statement and made a hyperbole that did not exist. He stated “MLS need to upgrade the salary cap to at least 5 million by 2020. And 10 million by 2025”. That seems very rational. If the salary cap is not 10 million in 10 years (by 2025), that means MLS is having trouble (forget big European leagues), but against top American Leagues (Liga MX, Argentina, Campeonato Brasileiro).

        I would think the MLS is capable of having a 5 million before 2020 (in 5 years). According to the 2015 ESPN/Sporting Intelligence Global Salary Survey in May, only 1 team spent less than 4 million on salary (Colorado – 3.6 mill). Homegrown and other bonuses don’t hit the cap. 9 teams spend between 4-5 million and 10 spend over million.

  11. I wish Dempsey was still in the PL. Whether at Fulham or Spurs. Would have been amazing to see him inch closer to 100 PL goals.

    Its a shame Liverpool put in such a low bid. Seeing him start with Gerrard and Suarez in 2012 would have been Legendary.

    Reply
  12. O/t

    But isnt Jake Gyllenhaal 1 of the best actors around right now? SOUTHPAW and Everest. This guy always challenges himself in roles. Admirable

    Reply
  13. Johannsson interestingly on free kick duty today. First delivery was a peach and led to best chance for Bremen so far, header off crossbar. Yedlin on the bench, wouldn’t be surprised to see him get on the pitch today. Ajo also looks extremely bubbly and is testing the passing lanes at all times. He may bag his first from the run of play today if he keeps this up.

    Reply
    • Here we go again with Diego Costa hating. You hate Diego Costa because he plays in one of the best teams in the world and has won both the La Liga and EPL playing regularly as a striker, yet you sure are first to defend lazydore, who by the way was kicked out of one of the worst teams in EPL, because he scored two goals in two seasons. But, hey that’s our guy who always, absolutely always signs and salutes our anthem. What a crock.

      Reply
    • Too late, the game was more of a defensive variety. You didn’t miss much. AJ connecting as usual but nothing else. Morales as always a pest to not only the opposition but the ref, he ended up with his customary yellow card. The penalty call was at minute’89 and it was a knucklehead play, the CB tried to grab the forward on a slight wide play, player sensed it and went down for the PK.

      Reply
    • Wow, there are so many Mexicans playing in top European teams, Chicharito at Leverkusen, four Mexicans in FC Porto and three play regularly, two in PSV and they also play Champions League. Wow again, if USMNT beats Mexico at the CONCACAF Cup, it will really be a heroic miracle. Our players instead are relegated to playing MLS and second division teams in Europe. Wow, we have moved forwards by leaps and bounds with Klinsi at the helm.

      Reply
      • “Our fans”…? Pretty sure you’ve already shown your true Mexican colors. Please go to the Soccer by Pedro website….

      • Hey, telling the truth does not make me less of a USMNT fan than anyone here. I wish I could say what I just said about US players and not Mexicans.

      • sorry to break it to you but Mexican players have been playing at bigger clubs versus US players on average for a number of years and we have had no problems beating them before so I fail to see why it would change now. Mexico may be playing slightly better as a team at the moment but it has nothing to do with where the players play their club football in my opinion

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