there are six million other things i'm not talking about

But here are four things I'm thinking about.

1. Joe Hart's gone to Birmingham City on loan. This makes me very, very happy.
2. The US made it to the Confederations Cup final where we didn't look like complete idiots, even though we lost.
3. Someone needs to make sure José Francisco Torres gets some playing time on the NT. Every time he's called up and doesn't play, it just makes me hate BB a little more.
4. I still love Jonathan Wilson. He was in RSA for the confed cup and wrote this lovely article.

And that's pretty much it.

gold cup

I know that I should just suck it up and be happy with our win against Spain, because even if we lose, we'll have gotten second place. But I'm sorry, the Gold Cup squad is pissing me off.

Bob Bradley? I am so over you. I've had it with your robot lack of emotion, your bizarre substitutions and your inexplicable urge to bench Torres, even while you're letting shit players KEEP ON PLAYING (I love you, Beasley, but you suck right now and Sacha Kljestan, you either hoodwinked everyone last year into thinking you're good, or you're having an off year, regardless, get it together the both of you).

I'm not calling for your firing, because I'm not stupid enough to believe that it's possible (at least not before the World Cup). But, REALLY. You have the prefect chance to let Jose play and redeem himself from whatever he did wrong (which I think is just in your head). But, no. Instead, you leave him off the squad. Look, I'm happy with a lot of people on there, but unless Pachuca (or if he's going to a new team) want him back, you have absolutely NO REASON not to call him up.

And until I find out otherwise, I'm blaming this on you, Bradley. I might like your son, but I certainly don't like you.

link of the day

Hart of England is playing for keeps (The Independent)

On Friday, Joe Hart of Manchester City sat in a corner of England's windswept beach hotel here expressing the hope that he might be the next beneficiary of fast-tracking between the Under-21s and the senior team. England's remaining matches here – they play Germany tomorrow, already guaranteed a place in Friday's semi-finals – will be his last at this level, and the next step is the big one. Hart has so far taken it only on a temporary basis and, like Carson, was allowed one 45-minute cameo, and he knows there is a specific problem to face now that City's new money has allowed them to install the outstanding Shay Given as the No 1: he needs to be playing regularly, not sitting in a dug-out.

did he kill bob's puppy?

I don't know how obvious it is, but I kind of adore José Francisco Torres. And by kind of I mean definitely. Which makes it all the more painful to watch the USMNT because Bradley apparently has no desire to play Torres after the Costa Rica match. I have no idea (obviously) what happened, but each time he doesn't play Torres, the more irritated I get.

I don't really have anything else coherent to say, except that I really, really don't understand what Sacha Kljestan did to deserve to start. His season at Chivas has been crap and Torres has started and played (and played well) numoerous games for Pachuca.

Ugh, whatever. What do I know, right? That doesn't mean I'm not aggravated.

goodbye for charity, with bonus horses

via Dirty Tackle

my #usmnt rehash (pun intended)

Oh, wise internets. Can someone explain to me why (aside from US Soccer's reasoning that Bradley wanted to switch to 4-4-2) José Francisco Torres, who looked like our best player, was subbed off at the half? I've read some things and I know that he did have some defensive errors, but come on. Those other people having defensive errors? The people who are actually defenders. I know that 4-4-2 is a logical change, but do you really sacrifice your best player on the pitch to get it? Couldn't you reshuffle? And why Sacha Kljestan, who is having a horrible season (though Kljestan wasn't horrible, he certainly wasn't good either)?

Also, obviously I like Michael Bradley and I don't like it when people (wrongfully) accuse Bob Bradley of nepotism (which loads of people were doing on Twitter last night). But blaming that yellow card on Mike? Ridiculous. It was a soft call and it was clear that the Costa Rican players had no problems embellishing to get what they wanted.

I don't know who to blame, except the players and the coach, for the reason most of the team just didn't show up. Like everyone else said last night, don't use excuses like the crowd or the pitch. Sure, that made things harder, but not impossible. Also, man, Charlie Davies! You were the best player of the second half, but I don't know that you would have improved the game had you come in earlier. It almost felt like the team had already decided (for the most part) that we weren't going to be able to beat Costa Rica anyway, so why try. I mean, why else would you start two players who hadn't played in several months?

I have no answers, clearly we have some player issues. Perhaps we even have coach issues (I don't know, to be honest, but I think we probably do). But those of you who expect us to get a new coach before the WC (if we even make it this year, though I think we'll manage, somehow) really need to pull your head out of your ass. Because there's no way US Soccer will fire Bradley, even if he deserves it.

link of the day

Why are people such assholes?

Paolo Maldini's San Siro exit turns sour after Roma defeat AC Milan: Paolo Maldini's final appearance in front of the San Siro crowd turned sour not just because his side were beaten 3-2 by AS Roma but also because of a protest by a section of fans.

While the majority of the crowd applauded him enthusiastically, at the south end some fans unfurled a giant Milan shirt emblazoned with the number 6 of former captain Franco Baresi.

Fans started chanting 'there's only one Franco Baresi' while one banner hit out at Maldini, saying 'you hear the applause of those who you accused of being mercenaries and beggers'.

[...]

Maldini looked visibly upset by his treatment and was consoled by former player Leonardo when he finished his lap.

He deserves so much better than this bullshit. I know who the fans think they are, but they suck. Way to make Maldini's last ever game at the San Siro shit. I'm kind of glad I didn't see the post-match "celebrations" after all. Only kind of, because I'm still pissed that FSC cut away.

lack of posting

Um, I guess I could blame it on the fact that my teams have been shit this week. And also on the fact that I've been busy cleaning (my parents were here for the weekend) and now I've got this brand new bike, which will take up some time. It could also be that my Wii is finally hooked up again. Or that I just plane forgot to post. It's none of them, exactly and all of them combined.

But whatever, right? In spite of all the things I'm not talking about, there were a few good things. for example, Chelsea lost and Barcelona beat them. Columbus Crew won, finally. Michael Bradley's team escaped the bottom three -- at least for now and only by goal difference, but it's better than nothing. And Arsenal Ladies won their 6th consecutive premier league title, which means that they've won the domestic treble! How awesome is that?

And that's pretty much all I have to say, except that because Barcelona won and Chelsea lost, I will be taking the afternoon of the CL final off. I'd sworn that if it was another Chelsea/United final, I wasn't going to take it off. Luckily, I don't have to worry now.

sunday morning posting

Currently watching: Milan/Catania

So, yesterday in football: was totally awesome ... mostly. All the teams I support either drew or won (as in Arsenal, Barcelona (shush), Columbus and DC United). I don't know what's going on with Columbus and I didn't see yesterday's match because I was still at work (what's with playing games at 4 pm, not cool, MLS). But I did watch DC's. I was completely disappointed after the first half because of how well the team played and the fact that we were losing. But miracles (ha) do happen and Moreno scored two goals and suddenly we were winning, pretty awesome.

I did not see Barcelona's game, I'm sure I will eventually. I was particularly disappointed that it was a Saturday night game instead of Sunday night. Why doesn't the footballing world revolve around me?! Arsenal's game was good, I saw Nick's first (and completely awesome) goal, and then I had to get ready for and go to work. I did see replays of both goals, not too shabby. I just hope that Arsenal can sort things out and beat United, because we really, really need to advance to at least the final of the CL, if not win it.

And that's pretty much all I have, since I'm not talking about the CL, at least not now.

Thursday Links

MLS to receive $10m for extended David Beckham loan (Telegraph)

The 33-year-old England midfielder joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in July 2007 and moved to Milan on a loan in January. That loan was to expire on March 8 but the sides agreed to extend it through the end of the Italian season.

Beckham will rejoin the Galaxy on July 1.

"We asked for $10 million, we got our $10 million," MLS commissioner Don Garber said on Thursday.

And then, hopefully, he'll go back to Milan. Because, ugh, LA Galaxy. Moving on.

Wenger, and agents, take a vested interest in English Arsenal youth team (Guardian)

One football agent had a particularly good reason to watch last night's FA Youth Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Manchester City. He had a vested interest in nine of the players on show, who are all on his books. Considering these two clubs possess the best academy sides this year, and he had a very healthy pick of them, he found it difficult to disguise his enthusiasm for the riches that lie in store.

So, what was the first thing on his mind at the end of the game? How well his Arsenal boys had done to reach the final? Wrong. How to console his vanquished City boys? Wrong. He was preoccupied with the new 50% tax hike for Britain's highest earners.

U.S. Soccer Fans Outpacing M.L.S. (NYTimes)

The biggest challenge facing Major League Soccer is not the country’s daunting economic recession nor the lack of soccer-specific stadiums. Commissioner Don Garber is not worried about the league’s discordant March-to-November schedule, he said, and he is sanguine about competing with other leagues in a crowded U.S. sports landscape.

No, the league’s biggest problem right now: its fans.

Soccer fans in this country are increasingly sophisticated, said Garber, and M.L.S. has not been able to keep pace with their demands.

The problem is I don't really think Garber understands, but at least he's trying? I don't know.

England Women 3-0 Norway Women (BBC)

England continued their build-up to the European Championship finals with a convincing win over the once vastly superior Norwa

Thanks to Amanda for this one.

Critics hail 'a team called miracle' as Real evoke memories of 2007 (Guardian)

Somehow Real Madrid's title hopes remain alive after two late goals brought them victory over Getafe

I do not like Real Madrid and I hope they fail, but this column is utterly hilarious.

The Question: is the box-to-box midfielder dead? (Guardian)

In the latest in our series analysing football tactics, we look at where the Robsons, Keanes and Matthaus's have gone in the modern game

Written by Jonathan Wilson. Did you even need to ask? Yeah, I have problems. What of it?

And thus concludes today's linkspam (taken from two days worth of links). Maybe some day I'll have real content again ... or maybe not. I am lazy, though.

link of the day

Racist chants overshadow Juventus's stirring comeback against Inter:

Juventus expected praise for their 10-man fightback against Internazionale, instead the club is being castigated for the abusive chants its support directed at Mario Balotelli

FA Cup & Milan

What I'm not talking about: Arsenal, DCU

What I am talking about: How much of a stud Tim Howard is. Seriously, the guy is awesome. I think the US is lucky to have him as our starting keeper. Anyway, here's video of the penalties (which I saw live because I do like having FSC). If that video stops working, go here.



AC Milan won, which might have been a surprise, but the score was awesome saw the first four goals, but was so caught up in this (cycling related drama) that I missed the other two. The final was 5-1, with Pippo scoring yet another hat trick. Kaka had a penalty and Ambrosini had the fifth.

Oh, and yes, I did call my mother and leave her a 'ha ha United lost' message. Because I'm pretty certain that this is the only time I'll be able to say that for the rest of the season.

Arsenal & DC United

Due to the miracle of stolen wireless, I was able to watch most of Arsenal's CL match. The result was pleasing, even though I wish we could have gotten a winner. The away goal will be important, but we'll have to store more at home -- especially with the number of injuries we're picking up. It was great to see some of the players returning from injury, and I was happy Adebayor scored.

Today it's Barcelona, but I doubt I'll be able to watch, though you never know. I don't really have much else to add, except it's beginning to look like DC won't get a stadium after all. Depressing. Being out of town also means I'm totally out of touch with what games are on where, especially since we don't have cable here (not that I'd want to watch Liverpool/Chelsea). It does look like I won't miss any MLS Thursday matches (um, unlike normal, when I always miss them because of work) and I should get home from work on Saturday just in time to see DCU, though with how poorly MLS' video thing is going, it'll probably be 10 after 6 before I can watch anything.

Otherwise, I'm just reading sports news and watching when I can. My not-vacation actually sucks quite a bit, but that's life. I'll be back to work (normal) on Saturday.

long time, no blog

So, sorry about the blog-silence. I'm doing Blog Every Day in April (BEDA) over at my cycling blog and I'm in Ohio for a week (without cable), so I'm missing a lot of football. Basically, I missed the games yesterday (except DCU) and today and will miss everything until Sunday evening. But I'm not completely out of touch. Aside from stealing wireless (we'll see how long that lasts), I've been able to catch up on most things. I did follow the last 20 minutes of Arsenal's match on Saturday, and I'm proud of DC for winning, though I guess we didn't do so hot even with the win. But at least we won, and it's still the beginning of the season, so there's time to improve. 

As for Arsenal? I don't like Cesc or Adebayor, but I must say it's good to have them back. I was also happy to see that Aaron Ramsey had a run out, Theo Walcott started and Bendtner came in. Hopefully everyone'll be healthy and stay that way for the rest of the season. Of all the football I'm missing, it's the CL match that I'm most bummed about winning. As for Milan? All I know is that we won, which isn't saying much -- but I would have watched if I could have!

And that's my update. I'll try to update more often, maybe once a week instead of once a month or so! 

Monday Morning Pictures

That collision between Greg Janicki and Devon McTavish? Resulted in a lot of blood and staples/stitches. Gross, painful and so on. And if you didn't see it and the picture of the blood didn't convince you, this picture might. Poor Devon.

Seriously, poor guy. I couldn't believe that LA kept playing, because both Greg and Devon were down near their own box, but Donovan and co kept on playing. I guess nothing matters these days except the goal. Maybe I'm just bitter we blew the lead, I don't know. On to other, less painful and gross things.

There's an article in the Sun about Arsenal players going out (somewhere, I have no idea where) after beating Newcastle. What's important (to me) isn't the fact that they were going out (though it's nice to see that Nick and his teammates seem to get along, though who really knows), it's Nick's hilarious scarf. My sister called it shabby-chic, while the Sun calls it a bedsheet. I just call it hilarious. Seriously, Nick. What were you thinking?