Monday, September 18, 2017

Some Soccer News for Sep 18, 2017

It's Day 261 of 2017.


Minnesota United announced that they have hired Chris Wright as their new Chief Executive Officer.
  • He was previously President of Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) and Minnesota Lynx (WNBA).

dN

It was great to see Minnesota beat on old rival (Montreal), even if almost none of you recognize it as such. I sure as hell do.
  • You wanna know what losing to the Loons at home when you are trying to make the playoffs does to an owner? I give you Joey Saputo of Montreal Impact.
  • Yeah I know its not directly about Minnesota, its about their failure all season long. But I want to think its about MNUFC, and so it is.

Beating the following teams means more to me than other MLS wins:
  • Montreal
  • Portland
  • Seattle
  • Vancouver

dN

70,425!
  • A new MLS single game attendance record.
  • Set by Atlanta United in their 2nd game in the new stadium.
  • Breaks a record of 69,255 that was set by LA Galaxy at the Rose Bowl in their first game ever, during the league's opening weekend more than 21 years ago.
  • More on that record and a new USL attendance record on the same night in Cincinnati. By Steve Goff for the Washington Post.

dN

Speaking of Atlanta, I need to take us back to March 20th here on the du Nord Futbol blog and recall something I wrote at that time:
  • "Josef Martinez of AU is the real deal. I haven't seen a new player in the league be this explosive since Carlos Ruiz showed up. Maybe the heyday of Jaime Moreno. And he is probably better than both of them. He is 24 years old and from Venezuela. He came to Atlanta from Torino in Italy. Don't take your eyes off this player."
  • Martinez has only played in 14 games due to injuries. But he has 16 goals in those 14 games. I thought he might be really special, but I didn't think he would be this good.

dN

Christian Pulisic has turns 19 today.
  • I was still a virgin on my 19th birthday.

dN

MINNESOTA UNITED

Results:
-Sat Sep 16
Montreal Impact 2-3 Minnesota - MU goals by Molino(PK), Ramirez + Danladi.

My MNUFC Notes:
  • "They are ripe for a Minnesota picking." That's what I wrote on Friday.
  • Game highlights. [VIDEO]
Abuuuuuu! The late goal from Danladi was a monster.
He's Danladi and he'll score if he wants to, score if he wants to, score if he wants to. You would score too if your name was Abu!" Lyrics by Wes Burdine. To the tune of It's My Party by Leslie Gore.
  • To come from behind twice and then win with a 3rd goal is an incredible feat for this Minnesota team in MLS. It had fans on their feet going nuts!
  • The Loons have cracked the 1 Point Per Game average! They sit at 1.04. Three teams are worse off. (DC, LA and Colorado.)
  • Shuttlworth earned his pay in saving a PK attempt from Ignacio Piatti. It was a very poor shot from Piatti, but the only thing that matters is the save in the end.
  • Ibson created a beauty of a goal by flicking the ball up and across the goal box to the back post for Ramirez to head home for goal #2.
  • Molino converted another PK. Well done. Now score some more goals.
  • Minn used all 3 subs!!!!!
  • Brilliant volleyed goal by Dzemaili of Montreal.
  • And in CLASSIC Montreal Impact fashion they had a meltdown on the field after losing to Minnesota! I love it. And I can't tell you how many times I have seen this from them, their boorish owner, their boorish management, and their boorish players. Both Cabrera and Romero lost their shit and started swinging fists, grabbing, shoving, and screaming. Their GM Adam Braz has taught them well.
  • Good game: Ibson, Shuttleworth, Molini, Ramirez, Danladi
  • Ok game: Thiesson, Boxall, Calvo, Burch, Nicholson, Warner
  • Bad game: Finlay, Ibarra, Martin
  • The next opponent Dallas is ripe too. But not in the same way Montreal was. And may not be pickable.

Schedule:
-Sat Sep 23
Minnesota v Dallas

dN

MLS

My MLS Notes:
  • Diego Valeri has scored in 8 consecutive games! Incredible. I didn't think he could get better. He has.
  • Toronto left Altidore and Giovinco at home and still crushed the Galaxy 0-4! That is true confidence.
  • Chicago's defense gets healthier and they are winning again. Hmmmm.
  • Philly keeper Andre Blake is awesome. But you already knew that.
  • Can Salt Lake pull off a playoff place? They are in right now, but have 2 games in hand. They will have to play nearly perfect to pull it off.

Media review of the past week in MLS:

Long term is the way Philadelphia GM Earnie Stewart chooses to focus for real success. By Matt Pentz for ESPNFC.

Week 28 Results:
(13 games)
-Wed Sep 13
Atlanta 7-0 New England
Vancouver 3-0 Minnesota
-Sat Sep 16
Atlanta 3-3 Orlando
Vancouver 2-2 Columbus
Montreal 2-3 Minnesota
Dallas 0-0 Seattle
Chicago 3-0 DC
Kansas City 3-1 New England
Colorado 1-1 New York City
Salt Lake 2-1 Portland
LA 0-4 Toronto
San Jose 1-0 Houston
-Sun Sep 17
New York RB 0-0 Philadelphia
42 goals scored in 13 games this week = 3.2 goals per game.

Top teams in MLS by Points Per Game:
2.14 Toronto
1.76 New York City
1.66 Chicago
1.61 Vancouver
1.59 Atlanta
1.57 Kansas City
1.52 Seattle
1.50 New York Red Bulls

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USMNT

Bob Ley and Co dissect the rant Alexi Lalas directed at the USMNT last week. [VIDEO] From ESPN.

dN

AMERICANS ABROAD

Does Stan Kroenke count as an American Abroad? He does own Arsenal. And some Arsenal fans hate his cheap-ass ways. (Just like with the Colorado Rapids.) By Rory Smith for the New York Times.

dN

BIG TEAMS + GAMES IN EUROPES TOP LEAGUES:

Its almost not fair. Almost. Hahahahahaha. Get real. Its not fair. The only one of the big name teams in Europe that did not win this past weekend was Lyon and that's because they lost to PSG.

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action. From the Guardian.

Results:
-Sat Sep 16
Watford 0-6 Manchester City
Bayern 4-0 Mainz
Getafe 1-2 Barcelona
Liverpool 1-1 Burnley
Tottenham 0-0 Swansea
Werder Bremen 1-2 Schalke
Leipzig 2-2 Monchengladbach
Crotone 0-2 Inter
Roma 3-0 Hellas Verona
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Malaga
Monaco 3-0 Strasbourg
-Sun Sep 17
Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus
Real Sociedad 1-3 Real Madrid
PSG 2-0 Lyon
Manchester United 4-0 Everton
Dortmund 5-0 Koln
Milan 2-1 Udinese
Napoli 6-0 Benevento
Girona 0-1 Sevilla
Amiens 0-2 Marseille

Mid week action ahead:
-Tue Sep 19
Barcelona v Eibar
Bologna v Inter
Monchengladbach v Stuttgart
-Wed Sep 20
Real Madrid v Betis
Juventus v Fiorentina
Bilbao v Atletico Madrid
Benevento v Roma
Lazio v Napoli
Milan v SPAL
Sevilla v Las Palmas



The Bird Is The Word

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