So Joe Cole leaves Chelsea and joins Liverpool for a no doubt whopping signing-on fee plus a comparable weekly wage and probably the promise of greater playing time. Since bursting onto the scene with West Ham nearly 10 years ago as the next big thing, Cole has flattered to deceive. Whilst obviously talented, Chelsea never really found a regular place for a player who really needs a team built around him rather than trying to fit him into an irregular… Read more
Thanks to our friends from A Football Report and www.football-corner.org, we’re proudly taking part in the 2010-2011 Premier League Fantasy Challenge. Again, the challenge is sponsored by A Football Report, and we along with the good folks at Football Corner wanted to make sure we helped out and made the league as competitive and fun as possible. So, if you’re as excited as I am to see EPL football get going again in late August, and you’d like to try your hand… Read more
A few weeks ago I could have ended my soccer career on a high note. In stoppage time, I scored the tying goal for my over-30 team that was facing relegation. I thought about never playing again. Whatever it is, we all want to leave it on our terms. We want to go voluntarily–quit instead of being fired. But we also prefer that the departure be positive. We want to peak at the end. We want to hit a walk-off homerun. We want to reach the… Read more
This has been without a doubt one of the more miserable weeks of my life. The World Cup has ended, and I have to go back to actually working all day instead of taking time off to watch the world’s best play the beautiful game. Before I get into the details of how awful this week has been, I wanted to comment on last Sunday’s final. At halftime, TYAC’s own Raf Crowley and I meet up to watch the remainder of the game. Almost simultaneously we said, “This… Read more
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll provide you with all the post-WC analysis you can handle, but for now, let’s talk about the final. As I was watching the game, I didn’t have a strong rooting interest either way, but I expected a great game. Both teams were stocked with All-Stars at virtually every position. The Spanish had won Euro; the Dutch were working on an undefeated tournament. Although the score line of a lot of the Spanish games this… Read more
It’s Sunday in America, and World Cup Final Sunday at that. The Super Bowl of Soccer, only way more important. Come join us for a live chat as we discuss the game and more. Can Holland become the first side since Brazil in 1970 to win every game they play at the World Cup Finals? Can Spain capture the second Euro/World Cup double in history– and if they do– will they for small moments rue the defeat to the United States last summer that cost them a shot at the… Read more
Our friend, Jared Montz, was kind enough to allow us to put up his podcast on The Yanks Are Coming. A former professional soccer player in the MLS, Jared is doing big things down near New Orleans where he coaches, runs soccer camps, does private training and heads America’s first online soccer academy. I strongly encourage you to check out his site as it’s full of cool stuff for you to peruse — not to mention improve your skills on the pitch. In his latest… Read more
Trying to defend against the Dutch is like trying to catch a bullet with your teeth. With Penn and Teller not in our Starting XI, the US succumbed 2-1 to the Clockwork Orange in front of 46,630 packed into the Amsterdam ArenA. Starters Howard: 7. Unlucky to give up goals by PK and deflection. Great positioning, such a good read on the game. Brilliant save late showed his shot-stopping class. Bornstein (85): 3.5. Silly foul to give up PK. Robben was… Read more
On May 25th the USMNT will continue to challenge itself by facing the Czech Republic in a pre-World Cup schedule that now has a catchy name (so you know it must be good) – The Send-Off Series. Furthermore, it’s rumored that the series has one more fixture yet to be scheduled, possibly against the Republic of Ireland. Now that would be one hard-nosed match. Can you imagine how pumped Michael Bradley would be for that 90 minute fist-fight? But that game… Read more
Dear TYAC Reader, I have a confession to make. I have, in the past, been critical of Landon Donovan. Not his play, as I’ve always loved him on the field, but his decision to stay in MLS always baffled me. I was under the belief that he was complacent, happy to be the big fish in the little pond, insert whatever other clichés come to mind here. Simply put, the phrase “homesick little bitch” may have crossed my lips a few times. But if I criticized him, it… Read more
There are some individuals, that, if fit, Bob Bradley will automatically take to South Africa this summer. Tim Howard. Landon Donovan. Carlos Bocanegra. Snuffles, Bob’s stuffed lamb with the nose bitten off. There are plenty though, for whom every match, every ball, and every twitch of a muscle is an opportunity to flex their World Cup credentials. These are their stories. (Dun-dun) Goalkeepers: Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are safe, we can assume that much…. Read more
Another big difference between you and your football brethren o’er the pond is our attitudes regarding luck and fortune and our relative ability to influence and harness it – or believe we can. Ask any English fan if their team is going to win at the weekend and they will come back with a variety of euphemisms for good fortune – “hope so”; “fingers crossed”; “we’re due a win.” Ask a Yank the same thing and you’ll be blown back by the… Read more
So there we were, killing time at the car dealership where I spend the worst part of my working week, all of us straining our necks to spot incoming customers so we could avoid serving them. This is a truism of any dealership. Most of the salespeople, or product specialists in my case, would really have nothing to do with the public if at all possible – which is fine if the public understood this. If they could only meet with the guy in the red shirt who is… Read more
