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News

Santos Want to Keep Ganso & Neymar

August 17, 2010 — by Sean

Even more great stuff from Mark Gannon on the ground in Brazil. Following quickly from the Neymar news comes this next piece that also includes fretting over Ganso. Santos is bleeding offensive weapons, and are looking to staunch the flow. Follow the link for the original from Globo Esporte. Mano and Zagallo advise Neymar and Ganso to stay in Brazil Current and former coaches of the Seleção ran a sort of “Stay, Neymar and Ganso” campaign during an event on Monday By Leandro Canônico and Marcelo Prado, São Paulo Is Neymar going off to Europe?  Is Ganso following the same path?  If it depended on the opinions of Mano Menezes, coach of the Seleção, and Zagallo, four-time world champ with Brazil, the answers would be the same: no.  On Monday afternoon, in an event held by a CBF sponsor (translator says: from the pics, it looks like it was Gillette),

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News

Neymar to Chelsea: Not So Fast

August 17, 2010 — by Sean

Fantastic stuff from Mark Gannon, our correspondent in Brazil. The papers are abuzz with the seemingly imminent move of Neymar to England, or will it be as smooth a transition as the European press would have us believe? Read on for Mark's translations of the Brazilian angle (follow the links for the original articles).
Neymar will meet with Santos officials on Tuesday (Photo: Ag. Estado)
Pelé, Robinho, and Sports Minister called upon to convince Neymar The Fish” (Santos) sets up a task force to try to keep the prodigy in the Vila Belmiro.  The King of Football has already made himself available to talk to the player's father By Adilson Barros, Santos Santos is trying its last gambits to convince Neymar to reject Chelsea's offer and stay in the Vila Belmiro.  The club is setting up a task force that will include Pelé, Sports Minister Orlando

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CommentaryNews

Reina Flubs It

August 15, 2010 — by Sean — 6

Barely a minute before the final whistle, Arsenal were gifted a goal in ludicrous fashion by up-'til-then standout Pepe Reina. The keeper was responsible for maintaing 10-men Liverpool's advantage on more than one occasion, but his terrible mistake cost them two points. It remains to be seen what effect the draw will have over time, though you can be assured that this goal will be part of  "Worst Goals Ever" compilations for many years to come. What else did we learn watching today's match? Arsenal aren't going to win the league this year. Fabregas wasn't playing, and Van Persie only had a short run around at the end, but Arshavin turned in a muted performance, Chamakh wasn't finding any space, Nasri wasn't seeing any passing lanes, and the delivery from the wings was consistently lobbed to the far post with no pace on the passes. Plus, they're a bunch of pansies. The bright spot in attack

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CommentaryNews

Tottenham v Man City Starting Lineups

August 14, 2010 — by Suman — 1

Guardian Squad sheets: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City
If you're not up early (kickoff was at 7:45am ET) watching this opening game of the 2010-11 English Premier League, you're missing a doozy.  As the inimitable Guardian liveblog put it, "a cracking start, real 200mph This Is What The Premier League Is All About™ stuff." We have a Spurs season preview from cradle-to-grave Tottenhamite John Lally up here, and we expect he'll also post a match recap later today or tomorrow.  At some point we'll also have to comment on Man City's chances, as they've been more active in the transfer market than any other EPL side (having spent an astounding ~$156 million to bring in international stars David Silva (Spain), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Aleksandar Kolarov (Serbia), Jerome Boateng (Germany), and just in the last 24 hours, Mario Balotelli (Italy). That list points out the internationalization

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Commentary

It’s lucky for Spurs when the year ends in 1…

August 13, 2010 — by John Lally — 2

Or at least it used to be.  By the end of this season, it will be 20 years since Chas 'n' Dave wrote those lyrics.  Since then, there has been very little for Spurs fans to cheer about.  Prior to the formation of the Premier League, Tottenham were considered one of the "Big 5" clubs (along with Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton) and had a strong cup tradition. The "Year ending in 1" superstition came from FA Cup wins in 1901, 1921, 1981 and 1991; the League in 1951; and the magic year of 1961 when Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double.  May 2011 will see the 50th anniversary of this achievement and 20 years of mediocrity with just a couple of League Cup wins in that time.  This year brings a potential Champions' League campaign, a tough fight in the league

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Commentary

How to fix a broken Union

August 13, 2010 — by RyanPine — 1

After watching my beloved Philadelphia Union throw away some more points on Wednesday night against Real Salt Lake, it dawned on me that Piotr Nowak is trying to utilize a 4-2-2-2 formation.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate the setup.  It worked to devastating effect for Real Madrid last season in La Liga and had it not been for Los Blancos facing the greatest club team in the history of the world, their record points total would have been more than enough to take the title.  The biggest problem with the Union employing the same tactic is that, well, they’re not Real Madrid.  MLS players need more discipline than that particular free-flowing shape can provide. On Wednesday, the Union lined up with Harvey, Gonzalez, Califf, and Orozco in the back.  In front of the flat four is the two holding midfielder setup we’ve utilized for nearly the entire season.  Against

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News

MLS Standings With No Divisions

August 12, 2010 — by Sean

How much more robust-looking a league this is with all 16 teams set one atop another. No messy East-West breakouts, top 4 teams going to special tournaments, and the 2 last place teams dropping to the USL. Scroll over for a larger view.
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