Season Summaries--9. Everton

9. Everton (My preseason prediction: 8th)

As their record (6-2-5) indicates, Everton have had an up-and-down season. After winning their first two Premiership games of the season, the Toffees won just twice in their next 8 league games and are coming off a 1-1 draw at Chelsea. Tim Cahill's usual late-game dramatics earned Everton a point at Stamford Bridge, a game in which they were outplayed from almost beginning to end.

Everton have also won their first two group stage games in the UEFA Cup, sitting on 6 points in a group with Zenit St. Petersburg, FC Nuremberg, AZ Alkmaar, and Larissa. As the top 3 in each of the 8 groups advance to the Round of 32, Everton certainly are in good shape to move on to the knockout stages of Europe's second-most prestigious club competition.

The Toffees also are in the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup, where they'll make a trip to East London and Upton Park to take on West Ham on December 12. In a quirky coincidence, Everton will simply stay a few days in London as on the 15th, they'll play West Ham again, this time as part of the Premiership schedule.

Tim Howard has looked very good in goal this season, and Yakubu has 3 goals in 7 games since coming over from Middlesbrough. However, Joleon Lescott also has 3 goals and that's good enough for the co-team lead in goals, not a good sign for Everton if they want to finish inside the top 6 or 7 this season because the teams there right now (Portsmouth, Aston Villa, and Blackburn) can certainly score, seemingly at will sometimes.

Steve Bruce Joins Wigan

As reported by ESPNsoccernet, Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce has signed a four-year, $16 million US contract to become Wigan's new manager. Wigan is believed to have sent $6 million US back to Birmingham as compensation.

This really hurts Birmingham's chances of staying in the Premiership after this season as Bruce is a quality manager whose players love playing for him. The squad he'll inherit at Wigan isn't exactly on the young side, so Bruce should be able to tap into that experience and get the best out of his new team in hopes to maintain their place in the top tier of English soccer.

The problem at Birmingham for Steve Bruce was the pending new ownership under Carson Yeung and uncertainty surrounding Bruce's future at the helm of Birmingham's second-best team. Bruce hadn't been given the guarantees he sought from the incoming ownership and obviously felt the security offered to him by Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was too much to pass up.

It's uncertain who will step in and guide Birmingham, at least for the short-term, because Bruce's number two with the Blues, Eric Black, will probably step into the same role at Wigan in the very near future as assistant manager.

Season Summaries--10. West Ham

10. West Ham (My preseason prediction: 12th)

You have to be impressed with the job manager Alan Curbishley has done with West Ham this season, especially considering the fact that the lineups he's had to put on the field essentially consist of second-stringers due to all the injuries suffered by the players who would normally be starting or playing significant minutes (Kieron Dyer, Scott Parker, Julien Faubert, Calum Davenport, Bobby Zamora, Freddie Ljungberg, Nolberto Solano, etc.).

West Ham are one of only 7 Premiership teams to have a winning record away from home (3 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses), although to be fair, the wins came against Derby, Birmingham, and Reading, none of which are in the top half of the table. The Hammers have also advanced to the Round of 8 in the Carling Cup, but again, none of their previous three wins in that competition came against Premiership clubs (Bristol Rovers, Plymouth, Coventry City). All of this being said, you can only do well against the schedule that's in front of you, and it's not West Ham's fault they've been drawn against lower league sides in the Carling Cup or had a particularly difficult road schedule to this point. Trips to Chelsea and Blackburn make up their first two games of December, followed by their quarterfinal Carling Cup match against Everton (at Upton Park). The East London club have had a pretty nice start to their season and will look to keep it going into December, where the packed holiday schedule brings 6 league games and the aforementioned Carling Cup match. Will West Ham's paper-thin depth be exposed? We'll see.

Season Summaries--11. Newcastle

11. Newcastle (My preseason prediction: 14th)

The jury is still out on this year's version of one of the perennial underachievers in English soccer. For a team who believe themselves to be one of the major clubs in England, they haven't won anything in recent years to back their claim up and this season looks to be no different.

Are Newcastle more like the team who opened the season unbeaten in their first four league games or the team who's won just two matches in their last 7 played? Games against Liverpool, Blackburn, and Arsenal (Liverpool and Arsenal at home) in the next three weeks will prove to be telling for the Magpies and manager Sam Allardyce.

It's inexcusable that Nigerian star striker Obafemi Martins has started just 7 league games this year, the same number as the oft-and-currently injured Michael Owen and the lazy player that is Mark Viduka. Martins has scored a team-leading 4 goals in those 7 games (and 5 appearances off the bench), while Owen has just a pair and Viduka three tallies. There is talk that Martins will leave in the January transfer window and Newcastle may look to offload him, especially if he has a breakout performance at the African Cup of Nations and they can get a larger fee for him. Joey Barton should probably be in jail right now, Cacapa's nightmare of a game against Portsmouth on November 3rd (4-1 loss) has undoubtedly wrecked his confidence, and Nicky Butt isn't getting any younger. As I said before, Newcastle's next three games will show just what kind of team Sam Allardyce has and results will be critical for the Magpies.

Steve McLaren Has Hope Yet

Israel's 2-1 home victory today over Russia, capped by a spectacular few minutes of second half injury time, puts qualifying for Euro 2008 squarely back in England's hands. The Three Lions now need only a draw against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday to book their trip to Austria-Switzerland next June, which is truly amazing given how poorly they've played and been managed over the entire qualification process.

I'll have a full preview of the England-Croatia game on Tuesday, a match that is pretty much meaningless for the latter as Russia's loss today clinched Croatia's spot in Euro 2008 but is hugely important for both England and Steve McLaren.

Season Summaries--12. Reading

12. Reading (My preseason prediction: 11th)

It looks like the reputed "Second Season Syndrome" is coming true again, though definitely not to as large of a degree as we saw with Wigan last year. Let's face it, Reading overachieved with the squad they had last season and as I mentioned in my preseason prediction for the Royals, it's simply a case of them really not adding/improving to their squad compared to teams like Everton, Portsmouth, Blackburn, and Aston Villa (the teams Reading finished roughly in the middle of in 2006-2007).

This year, too, they're not getting the same production they got from some players last season: Leroy Lita hasn't scored in the 6 league games he's played in due to injury, Kevin Doyle is scoring roughly once every 3 games as opposed to once every two last year, and Marcus Hahnemann has been awful at times. Steve Sidwell played an integral part of the Royals' squad a year ago; this year he's rotting on the bench at Chelsea.

Reading also have yet to win on the road in this campaign (1 draw, 5 losses), and they've already lost 3 times at home after losing just 6 home games all of last season. The loss to Liverpool in the Carling Cup is acceptable; losing to Bolton, West Ham, and Fulham in the league is not. In short, it is truly a tale of two seasons for Reading. I'm not sure how their remaining 25 games will play out, but I don't think Steve Coppell's team will repeat last season's 8th-place finish.

Season Summaries--13. Fulham

13. Fulham (My preseason prediction: 13th)

Even though they've played only 13 games, roughly a third of the season, I'm proud to say that so far my preseason prediction for Fulham has been spot-on. As an American, Fulham are a team I root for with Brian McBride (currently injured), Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, and Kasey Keller all on the roster and playing important roles with the London club, possibly soon to be joined by MLS Defender of the Year Michael Parkhurst.

Lawrie Sanchez is an underrated manager, in my opinion, and I'm not sure that people recognize how good of a job he did with Northern Ireland before he left the post to take charge at Fulham at the end of last season. I know that the national team job is different from managing at the club level, but Sanchez was able to get some pretty good results from a mish-mash roster (some of which he took to Fulham) and if he would've seen it through, I believe Northern Ireland would've qualified for Euro 2008.

As it is, the English-born Sanchez has done a good job at Fulham with pretty much the same type of roster: no stars, just a bunch of hard-working players who sail under the radar as far as name recognition goes, but a pretty solid group as a whole. Dempsey leads the team with 4 goals in the Premiership and when fellow American McBride returns from a dislocated knee, he'll provide the Cottagers with a boost and an aerial threat to complement Dempsey and David Healy. The only major disappointment to this point for Fulham was a 3rd Round Carling Cup defeat at home (in extra time) to Bolton. You can bet that Fulham's games will be close until the end; they've neither scored nor allowed more than 3 goals in any match this year.

Season Summaries--14. Tottenham

14. Tottenham (My preseason prediction: 4th)

Tottenham supporters can take solace in the fact that even though their team is currently sitting in 14th place in the Premiership table, things will only go up from here under new manager Juande Ramos. Former boss Martin Jol brought the North London club to new heights with back-to-back 5th place finishes and the roster he left behind isn't too shabby.

Spurs' problem, and it's been the same one for a couple years now, is the fact that they give up way too many goals, and even though they have some talented strikers in Keane, Berbatov, Bent, and Defoe, it's always tougher to outscore the other team in a 4-3 game then it is to win games 2-1 or 1-0. Paul Robinson is probably the second most overrated goalie in the Premiership (next to Jens Lehmann) and with center backs Ledley King and Michael Dawson seemingly almost always injured, it's no wonder Spurs have given up 24 goals in just 13 games.

However, you can expect Ramos to bring in some of his former Sevilla players during the January transfer window, possibly including striker Fredi Kanouté, defenders Daniel Alves and Ivica Dragutinović, and goalkeeper Andrés Palop. Combined with the return of Ledley King and Gareth Bale from injury and the continued good form of Aaron Lennon and Robbie Keane (6 goals in 12 Premiership games), Tottenham will make a run into the top half of the table and could end up in a UEFA Cup spot at the end of the year. To do that, though, they need to make White Hart Lane a fortress again (just 2 wins in 6 home games) and start winning on the road (0 wins in 7 games).

Season Summaries--15. Birmingham City

15. Birmingham City (My preseason prediction: 19th)

If there's one team I hope can succesfully navigate the relegation battle and remain in the Premiership (other than Sunderland), it's Birmingham. Perhaps it's because Steve Bruce looks like Jay Leno and is such a nice guy, such a players' manager; perhaps it's because I like the heart and "endeavor that the lads play with", who knows.

One thing is for sure, though, and that's if Birmingham lose Steve Bruce to Wigan (as is the current rumor), the Blues won't be playing in the Premiership next season. He's got a bunch of guys on that team that love playing for him and I couldn't see any other manager coming in and getting the results and performances out of them like Bruce does. I know that their record isn't the greatest (3-2-8), but it's pretty misleading as Birmingham have been pretty unlucky this season, combined with the fact they haven't been able to close out games. Just like Sunderland, their competitiveness and how hard they play has never been in question.

Their best player this season has been Olivier Kapo, without a doubt. The Ivorian-born French international has scored a team-leading five goals from his center midfield position and really stepped up when Mikael Forssell was out injured. Forssell has two goals in 5 starts, showing the impact he can have when healthy, and after his tally against Aston Villa in the Second City derby last weekend, the Finnish striker looks to be back on form. Birmingham will need to rack up the points in December, especially in the last three games of the month (at Bolton, home to Middlesbrough and Fulham) because their first three games of January come against Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, and it'll be that six-game stretch that defines Birmingham's season.

Michigan-Georgetown

Michigan's game at #5 Georgetown tonight (7:30 PM, ESPN 360) will probably end in a victory for the host Hoyas, and I think most Michigan fans know this and are realistic about what to expect from a very young Wolverines team not just in this game, but over the whole season.

New coach John Beilein has a young nucleus of players in Manny Harris, Kelvin Grady, and DeShawn Sims, to build on and I have no doubt that in a year's time, Michigan will make a return to the NCAA Tournament. It's games like tonight's that will really be the building block for a team like Michigan: on the road in a hostile arena against a nationally ranked, championship contender. Michigan also will go to Duke this season, as well as play neutral court games in Alaska, and in these games where the Wolverines may not win, Beilein will look to see improvement and composure from his team.

As for tonight's game specifically, Georgetown are led by preseason All-American center Roy Hibbert and have some talented guards in Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp. I'm interested in seeing what defense Michigan comes out with to defend the 7-foot Hibbert; I expect the 1-3-1 to harass the backcourt players but also a mixture of straight man-to-man, with either Sims or shot-blocker extraordinare Ekpe Udoh defending Hibbert. Shooting the 3-ball at a high percentage is going to be critical for Michigan tonight as that will neutralize Hibbert's defensive presence under the basket and force the big man to come out and defend guys like Sims and Zack Gibson, who can shoot pretty well from 15-18 feet.

I said it before, I don't expect Michigan to go into Verizon Center and come out with a win. Hopefully the Wolverines can keep the scoreline close (I think they can) and force Georgetown to really have to battle to get a win tonight.

Season Summaries--16. Sunderland

16. Sunderland (My preseason prediction: 17th)

I'll tell you what, Sunderland boss Roy Keane has done an outstanding job at the Stadium of Light, not just in leading the Black Cats to promotion last season but also guiding them through some times this season. If you based the table on competitiveness and how hard each team plays, Sunderland would be much higher up than they currently are and I'm very impressed with how they've competed in almost every single game this season.

With all of that being said, however, the table is based on points and right now, Sunderland have 10 through 13 games. They've already played Liverpool (2-0 loss), Arsenal (3-2 loss), and Manchester United (1-0 loss), but unfortunately for them, they've also played Wigan, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, and Fulham, and didn't gain enough points from those four games to create a buffer zone between them and the teams in the relegation battle. Trinidad and Tobago international striker Kenwyne Jones has been a revelation for the Black Cats (a poor man's Didier Drogba), and Craig Gordon has been pretty good between the sticks despite the team's overall record. Kieran Richardson's return from injury will be a major boost for this club as he played well in the three games before he got hurt and provides pace down the wing and good aerial service for Jones. I don't think Sunderland will go down this season and a lot of that is based on just pure grit, heart, and effort, things that can make up for a lack of widespread talent and things that Wigan, Boro, and Derby don't have.

Season Summaries--17. Middlesbrough

17. Middlesbrough (My preseason prediction: 16th)

Aside from poor play on the field, the one thing that the bottom four clubs at this point in the Premiership table have in common is uncertainty at the manager's post. Wigan and Bolton have already replaced managers, Derby are probably a few more embarrassing results away from doing so, and Middlesbrough's Gareth Southgate seems to be the odds-on leader in the sack race. With just 10 points in their first 13 games, Middlesbrough are actually tied with Sunderland for 16th but anyone who's been watching the Premiership this season will tell you that Sunderland has been a far more competitive team.

Boro haven't won a league game in their last nine played and with their next three games coming against Aston Villa, Reading, and Arsenal, that streak figures to continue. They lost in the 3rd Round of the Carling Cup at Tottenham 2-0, which normally would have been a respectable result, but with the way Spurs were playing back in late September one really would've thought Middlesbrough could come away with a victory, or at least push the game into extra time and/or penalties. Winger Stewart Downing is Boro's leading goalscorer (3 in the Premiership), and though he's a good player in his own right, it shows just how much they're missing Yakubu and Mark Viduka up front. I can't see it getting much better for Middlesbrough and if it doesn't, I fully expect Gareth Southgate to be gone before Christmas.

Season Summaries--18. Bolton

18. Bolton Wanderers (My preseason prediction: 9th)

Wow, talk about a team that I overestimated. To be honest, I wasn't aware just how much a manager means to a team and Sam Allardyce's departure for Newcastle has left Bolton in a huge rut. The current squad is comprised of largely the same group of players that played for Allardyce the last few seasons, when they finished in the top 8, but an awful 14-game stint (end of last season, start of this season) cost Sammy Lee his managerial post and now Gary Megson is in charge. Megson has proven that he's a good Championship and lower league-caliber manager, but he can't cut it in the Premiership.

Bolton have also yet to win away from Reebok Stadium this season (2 draws, 4 losses), and with star striker Nicholas "Le Sulk" Anelka probably set to move to bigger and better things in the January transfer window, this club will be in big trouble because no one else can score goals regularly. It really doesn't get any easier in the near future either, with games against Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City in the next four rounds of Premiership matches. Bolton's one hope this season, as it doesn't look good for them to stay up, is to have success in the UEFA Cup, where they've picked up two draws in two group games. They're in a group with Bayern Munich (they picked up a crucial point in Munich on the 8th), Sporting Braga, Thessaloniki, and Red Star Belgrade. You have to like their chances to reach the knockout stages of this competition, but their main focus really needs to be on Premiership survival.

Season Summaries So Far

Due to this international break, the most critical one of the year for many countries across Europe (particularly two of the British sides--England and Scotland), we're 11 days away from the next round of games in the Premiership. Teams are roughly a third of the way through the season with either 12 or 13 games played, and I figured it'd be a good time to come out with a brief capsule for each team, starting at the bottom of the table and working my way to the top. I'll have, in parentheses, my preseason prediction as to where I thought these teams would finish at the end of the year. Some, I'm proud to say, are spot-on or pretty close to it; others are pretty far off as I either greatly overestimated or underestimated the talent and coaching that those teams have. The plan is to come out with two a day, which will take us right up to November 24, the next set of games.

Bringing up the rear, we have Derby County:

20. Derby County (My preseason prediction: 20th)

There really isn't too much to say about this team other than the obvious: they are awful. Derby have a -26 goal differential in their 13 games played; in fact, they have yet to score a goal away from Pride Park this season and have been shutout in their last five Premier League games. Their only win of the season came against perennial underachievers Newcastle, and the Rams were eliminated in the second round of the Carling Cup by Blackpool, who currently sit in 19th place in the Coca-Cola Championship. It's a new excuse after every game for manager Billy Davies; it's one thing that your team "deserved" a result in one game or another, it's another thing to actually get a result and Derby simply haven't been on the right end of many games this season.

Benny Feilhaber and Giles Barnes, two promising young players for the Rams (Barnes especially), have combined to make 4 Premier League starts this season. If you're going to go down, which Derby most certainly are, at least play some of the younger players so that they can get some Premier League exposure and experience. The more they play and the better they play, the more money Derby can make when they sell them and that's important for a team that doesn't generate a lot of revenue on their own.

19. Wigan Athletic (My preseason prediction: 18th)

Wigan are another club in desperate straits. Chris Hutchings started the year as the manager who was supposed to guide Wigan into the post-Paul Jewell era but 13 games into the season, he's gone. Jewell has since ruled out a return to Lancashire and it looks like former Everton, Ipswich and Oldham manager Joe Royle has emerged as a favorite for this job.

If Royle takes over, he'll inherit a club in disarray. Jason Koumas was counted on to play a much larger role than he has up to this point; he's looked downright lazy on the field this season and as Wigan's biggest signing this summer, he hasn't lived up to expectations. Antoine Sibierski and Marcus Bent, two retreads if there ever were some, are co-leading this team in scoring with 3 goals apiece. Titus Bramble, of all players, has started every Premiership game this season and he's a detriment to any team's back four. Wigan also were knocked out of the Carling Cup at home to a lower-league side (Hull City-11th in the Championship; the crowd at that game was a meager 5,440). If the Latics are going to stay up, they'll need to do a better job away from home (1 draw and 6 losses at the JJB so far).

Will England Qualify for Euro 2008?

I've already touched on this issue in previous posts (see "Russia-2, England-1...Is Anyone Really Surprised?" and "Euro 2008--England's Prospects"), but as the most crucial international break this year is now upon us, I thought I'd go over it for the last time and give all the permutations that need to happen.

I, personally, do not think the Three Lions will go to Austria-Switzerland next June for Europe's highest international competition as anything but spectators or tourists. Injuries, suspensions, poor results, and most importantly, poor man management have really put a significant dent into this team throughout all of qualifying. Now England have put themselves behind the 8-ball and in a position where their destiny isn't even in their own hands. It's blasphemic for most England fans to hear, but Scotland have a better chance to qualify as they have the ability to write their own ticket; they need to beat Italy (at home) and they're in, simple as that.

Here is the "lowdown" on England's hopes to qualify, taken straight from the BBC:

"England's qualification is out of their hands. Their best hope of qualification is to finish ahead of Russia. But if the Russians win in Israel on Saturday, they will be one point ahead of England with one match to play - and that match is away to rock-bottom Andorra. England will not expect any favours from Andorra, who are on a run of 28 consecutive Euro qualifying defeats.

If Russia lose in Israel, then England need only to draw (or win) against Croatia in their final match at Wembley to guarantee qualification. If Russia draw in Israel, then England will need to beat Croatia in their final match to go through, given that a Russia win against Andorra is all but certain.

There is one other glimmer of hope for England. If Croatia lose in Macedonia, then an England win over the Croats by a three-goal margin will put them above their rivals. A 2-0 win would also be enough, but a two-goal margin in which England have conceded a goal (eg 3-1) will not be enough - as Croatia's away goal will mean they lead the head-to-head standings between the teams. Of course, should Russia have dropped points against Israel then any win over Croatia will suffice."

Now, in basic terms:

1. England are eliminated if they lose to Croatia at home on November 21.
2. England probably will not qualify if they tie with Croatia because Russia will most likely get a point in Israel on the 17th (who will be without Yossi Benayoun) and will certainly take full points in Andorra on the 21st.
3. If Russia lose in Israel, England just needs to get a result (either a win or tie) against Croatia to qualify.

I guarantee you that Croatia won't lose in Macedonia (barring a major miracle), and it's just about as certain that England won't beat Croatia by a three-goal margin or 2-0, so that third paragraph probably won't come into play.

In short, England need help to qualify and I don't see them getting it. Russia should get a result in Israel (as I said, they're without Benayoun) and have the advantage of playing against a team that is already eliminated and has nothing to play for other than pride. I like Russia to park the bus and at the least, get a tie in Israel but a win would wrap it up for them, seeing as they'll beat Andorra on the 21st (Andorra have lost 28 Euro qualifiers in a row).

Steve McLaren, you better be scouring the classifieds as you'll be without a job come December.

Hail to the Victors!

Well, it wasn't such a good weekend for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team (37-21 loss at Wisconsin), but they'll head into their yearly showdown with archrival Ohio State on Saturday afternoon (Noon, ABC) with a chance to win the Big Ten outright and book their second trip to the Rose Bowl in two years.

The basketball team, however, got their season under new coach John Beilein off to a flying start, demolishing Radford 82-55 on Friday night and outshooting a game Brown team 72-57 yesterday afternoon. It was the young guys leading the way for Michigan as freshmen Manny Harris and Kelvin Grady along with sophomore DeShawn Sims stepped up and paced the Wolverines to a 2-0 start. It gets tougher for Michigan though with a trip to national championship contender Georgetown on Thursday, followed by their trip to Anchorage for the Great Alaska Shooutout during Thanksgiving week. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed so far with the way Beilein's young team is picking up his high-pressure 1-3-1 trapping zone defense and the Princeton-based movement on offense. Harris is going to be a star and an all-Big Ten performer before his career with the Maize and Blue is over and I really like the speed and decision-making of Grady as well. The way we talk about the backcourt of Ohio State and Michigan State and Indiana now is the way we'll be talking about these two guys in the coming years, I'm sure of it.

Looking forward to the game Thursday night as it'll be the young squad's first test against a good opponent away from Crisler Arena and to the Michigan-Ohio State battle for the Big Ten championship (and trip to Pasadena) on Saturday.

US Squad for South Africa Friendly

A fairly veteran group of players was picked by US men's national team coach Bob Bradley for his team's friendly in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 17th. It's a squad comprised largely of European-based players, partly because the MLS season doesn't end until the 18th and partly because it's going to be those guys who make up the core of the team when World Cup qualifying starts next year. There are a few inclusions that I'm extremely pleased to see and I'm hoping they'll get a chance to play (Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, and Jonathan Bornstein, for starters). More domestic-based players will also be added within the coming days.

Here's a breakdown of the current squad by position:

Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard (Everton), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA)

Defenders (5): Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (AaB Aalborg), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)

Midfielders (7): Freddy Adu (Benfica), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County)

Forwards (3): Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Jozy Altidore (Red Bull New York), Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

Of course, you can make the argument that Donovan and Dempsey are more midfielders than forwards, so that leaves Altidore as the only true striker on the roster (for now). As I said, more players will be added in the very near future, but one guy who normally would be in this squad that almost certainly won't be is Taylor Twellman, as his New England Revolution will play Houston in the MLS Cup the day after the US-South Africa game. I'm not sure who Bob Bradley what strikers (if any) Bob Bradley will call up but you can bet that he won't stick Altidore up there by himself.

Another Random Sight

Alright, so again, I'm sitting on the couch watching soccer this morning (no pizza this time though), and I see something else a bit out of the ordinary. For those of you watched Manchester United humble a Blackburn side that believes they can crack the top four, you may know what I'm talking about.

I can't exactly remember the situation but in the first half for some reason, the camera cut to a close-up of the back of David Bentley's jersey. Yes, it's spelled Bentley. However, the equipment managers or whoever puts the players' names on the backs of their jerseys must've missed the memo, as today it was spelled Betnley.

Goodness me. What is going on across the pond these days?? First they take the viewers away from the end of a passionate, exciting derby, now they can't even spell a player's name right. I would understand it if possibly the guy's last name was Johnson and they spelled it Jonson or something like that, but "Betnley" doesn't even make phonetic sense.

Oh you silly Brtis. Get it?

Setanta's Bonehead Move of the Day

So there I was this morning, on the couch eating some stuffed crust pizza, sitting with my brother watching the pretty intense Sunderland-Newcastle game on Setanta. This edition of the Tyne-Wear northeast derby was a cracking one; the action went back and forth and as the game was tied 1-1 heading into stoppage time, there surely looked to be a winner (there wasn't, the game ended 1-1).

In or about the 87th minute, the game feed suddenly cut off and we saw a live look-in at an empty Anfield, where the game between Liverpool and Fulham wasn't scheduled to kick off for another couple hours. One of the studio hosts was in the middle of a conversation about a Blue Square South team (no, not Blue Square North or Premier!), and then it went to commercial for a few minutes. Finally the Sunderland-Newcastle game came on again, but by that time it was the 92nd minute and the game was basically over.

Simply put, that's pathetic. How can the folks at Setanta take the viewers away from a derby game like that? Maybe I don't understand the technical part of the whole situation, but believe me, I've watched enough sports in my day to know that that wasn't supposed to happen, and in all the years I've watched ESPN or even more recently, FSC, that's never happened.

Garbage!

Liverpool: We're Baaaack!

Yesterday's 8-0 thrashing of Turkish side Beşiktaş served notice to all the Liverpool doubters out there: this team has no intentions of exiting the Champions League early or of finishing outside the top four in the Premiership. In the second half, the Reds made Beşiktaş look like an amateur team, scoring goals almost at will. Ryan Babel's backheel goal will probably be the classiest goal we'll see this season, Peter Crouch bagged a brace to further his claim for a regular starting spot, and Yossi Benayoun's hat trick capped off an amazing night at Anfield for the team and their fans.

There are some up-and-coming teams in the Premiership--Portsmouth, Aston Villa, and Blackburn chief among them--but none of these sides are ready to claim Liverpool's spot in the top four. I don't want to read too much into this one game, but I still believe Liverpool will finish ahead of Arsenal at season's end, and part of that is because of their defense. Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger, and Jose Reina make up the best collective combination of two center backs and a goalie out of any other team in the league, and when Agger returns to the lineup in a couple weeks, Liverpool will be even tougher to beat then they are now (and they're still undefeated).

The Merseyside Reds close out their Champions League group campaign with one must-win game for sure (at Marseille) and a game they probably need to win (home against Porto; they will win). I like their chances to go through, particularly with their now-superior goal differential, and history has shown that this club is probably the toughest of outs in the knockout stages.

I also think they have a favorable schedule coming up in the Premiership, with Fulham at home, Newcastle away, Bolton at home, and Reading away, followed by the colossal home date with Manchester United on December 16. From those five games, Liverpool should grab 12 points and could potentially take all 15, which would put them back in the title hunt.

Don't count out the Reds yet, Rafa Benitez has finally seen the light in playing a more attack-minded lineup and when Liverpool get fully healthy (Alonso, Agger, and Torres fully fit), they are going to be a dangerous team and should reclaim their place amongst the Premier League's top four.