Tis the season before the transfer window! tra la la la la la
Are European giants exploiting US soccer or improving it?
Barcelona now has an outreach academy in the US.
Joe Bradley had an “a-ha moment” after seeing how three Bayern Munich youth team coaches dealt with losing, all in the same day.
This was during his first visit to the club’s facilities in the Bavarian capital in late November, part of the new, first-of-its-kind partnership between Bradley’s Massachusetts-based youth soccer organization, Global Premier Soccer, and the European powerhouse.
“They had a real commitment to game intelligence and the technical aspect of the game, and didn’t worry so much about winning or losing,” Bradley says of the games he saw, with players ranging from 11 to 16 years old. “We’re going to put this at the top of the list,” he adds, referring to the work GPS does training about 55,000 youth players in 11 northeastern US states.
As CEO of GPS, Bradley is part of a recent development that may become a trend in years to come - top European soccer clubs laying down roots on U.S. soil, working with young American players year-round.Alexei Lalas says it's a land grab
Chatter From the Sidelines
- FIFA has rejected Garcia appeal I can't even be bothered to rage anymore
- From reddit Fallon d'Floor 2014
- Ochoa might be coming to LFC. People say Ochoa and Mignolet are at the same level? Oh, well. Just. Oh.
- Western Sydney players standing firm on pay demand, says Topor-Stanley read more
- Eye on La Liga: Action against Spanish ‘ultras’ missing the point editorial
- Inside Line: Liverpool's Transfer Committee Has Been a Spectacular Failure I torture myself
- Middlesbrough supporter banned from UK grounds for tearing Koran pages wait, what? Why would do you that at a football match?
- Roberto Soldado, Emmanuel Adebayor to make way for Jackson Martinez makes sense
- Diego Simeone or Jurgen Klopp; Who's Better Suited For Premier League Success? Relax, no one is coming to these shores but it's a good article.
- Lionel Messi Better Than Sergio Aguero, Taunts Luis Enrique Ahead of City Clashokay?
Trying to break up a happy home - Martin Odegaard on the brink with Bayern Munich, but still touring. Training with Arsenal now If the lad is looking for first team minutes and professional development, Ajax might be better for him, or Southampton, tbh, if he wants first team minutes in a bigger league. Bayern will lend him out to another club as soon as they get him, and by the time he gets called back to Bayern, Guardiola might have moved on. LFC isn't steady, and Manchester United seems to be pursuing a galatico policy at the mo
- Thierry Henry's Sky deal He will be the highest paid pundit on Sky, will do BBC spots for major competitions. Must be nice.
- Real Madrid Transfer News: Marco Reus Reportedly Prefers Blancos to Barcelona forget about wanting first team minutes. You'll get trophies anyway
- Chelsea Transfer News: Diego Costa Eyed by PSG as Zlatan Ibrahimovic Replacement Would Mourinho sell though? Costa seems to be in his long term plans in a way David Luiz never was.
- David Moyes to use winter break to lure loan signings to Real Sociedad Makes sense, but La Real have a good cantera too
- A day in the life of Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe young and upcoming English manager
Social Media
Unless the city of Liverpool renounces gays, their football team won't win...seriously?
Pedro got a hat trick for Barcelona in the Copa del Rey match
Match Pictures
Ramos and Cruz. Real Madrid have broken the record - having won 50 matches on the trot
Ronaldo and Benzema? Anyway, Ronaldo didn't score, Bale did (just imagine his face, because I'm not posting it here, because his facccceee), Casillas saved two penalties, they won their match 4-0. Next!
James and Hernandez benched
Isco strikes for home
Idek the thumb sucking. Is it a kink? A sort of subspace he gets into after the high of scoring and the thumb anchors him to his body? What?
Bayern Munich won. Today is Wednesday
Neuer, somewhere in the midfield. Yesterday was Tuesday
Munich's subs on the bench. Can't Basti get a game?
The Chelsea vs Derby Capital Cup match had plenty of thrills and spills. This is the spill. Cech collided into Zouma, and the match time was held up for seven minutes. Tragic, because Derby was making headway. Curses.
Got a hard knock
Chelsea players standing up for their own
Hazard scored. Shows off his cakes
Drobga's ankle got twisted, had to be subbed off later in the game. Derby was pretty unlucky with that red card, tbh. What was nice was McClaren (the Derby coach) tried to distract Mourinho by telling jokes on the sidelines
That's all you need to know about the Barcelona vs Heusca match for the Copa del Rey. Pictures seem superfluous at this point
Pedro got his ball for his hat trick. Moving on
Toffees Lukaku and Distin pulling a Christmas cracker and wearing ugly Christmas jumpers. English tradition, y'all
Leighton Baines in jumper and shorts
Videos
Click to viewEverton players tell bad Christmas jokes. Cringe
Bayern Munich gets in on the Christmas cheer. Suppose you're agnostic, do you really have to go through all this malarkey? Besides, I thought most European countries didn't celebrate till January 5/6 or thereabouts?
Been told that this is the new one! Thanks for the correction. Y'all are great!