The Champions League group stage begins in about three weeks and we are scouring the ONELOVE community for predictions, opinions, and irrational arguments surrounding the upcoming round. To get the ball rolling, we caught up with OLFC West teammates Darren Davies and Cameron Araghi.
Davies, an LA area club coach, says: ‘Chelsea will win it (slight bias). They’ve been together, relatively unchanged, for three years and they have depth. Barça could win, especially with the addition of Villa, and Real is pretty damn serious. Picking up Ozil was huge. And then Mourinho has the formula for success.’
Cameron Araghi, another ONELOVE Ambassador, chimes in: ‘I always say Barça. They have the statistics. They have an attack-minded forward in Villa and if Mascherano signs, they will be the best team on earth. I see Real Madrid doing very well this year, but they will fall short in the major tournaments. And I may be wrong, but something tells me that Rafa is going to ruin Inter.’
What do you say? Who will surprise us this year? Who will disappoint?
The group stage fixtures will take place in September (14/15, 28/29), October (19/20), November (2/3, 23/24), and wrap up in early December (7/8).
First off, THANK YOU to everyone for contributing to our first poll! With a couple hundred (now at ~400) more votes/suggestions on our poll, we’ve made further changes.
As we said before, the US Men’s team is without a nickname and we are working to find one that sticks. In order to keep up with our growing community, we’ve introduced a system of relegation/promotion for votable names. The latest names to be relegated were “New Boots” and “Independence”. Newly added are “The United” and “Stars”. Since I made the changes this morning, there have already been several votes for each of the new names.
If you have another name in mind, please submit. We can make history! Feel free to get creative. Just know that we’ve already dismissed the following…
The Pussycat Dolls
The Hamburgers
The Ponzies
The Nukes
The Bald Eagles
The Clan
PS: There has been some discussion about the pre-existence of “The Yanks” as a team nickname. This is not entirely true. The name was popularized by the English a while back and it may, if we so chose, be adopted by actual USMNT supporters as the official name. Some people have argued that the name is self-deprecating, while others see it as a perfect fit. You may notice that votes are fairly even at this point. We will tally all votes at the end of January, followed by one final set of changes. Two will be voted off, and two will be added. Our hope is to have a name chosen by the end of February so that we can get official shirts printed as we head into spring.
Thank you for your votes, suggestions, and comments!
At a Liverpool Press conference, the Spanish striker expressed a bit of frustration with Spain’s loss to the US this past summer.
“They beat us in the Confederations Cup and it was, I think, not the real thing…we had 27 shots on target but we couldn’t score.”
NOT THE REAL THING!? Them’s fightin words.
Wait a second. When a Spanish striker (possibly the best in the world) can’t get over a loss, something is up. We got under their skin. If we make it out of our group in South Africa, there’s a good chance that we’ll have an early shot at Spain. We’ll be ready.
photo credit: Getty Images/linked from Yahoo Soccer
FC Barcelona face cross town rivals Espanyol on Saturday. Despite Espanyol’s smaller stature on the global stage, this derby is NEVER a small task for Barça. Cross-town rivalries are as much about psychological warfare as they are about either team’s ability to win. It defies logic to say this, but neither team is actually poised to win. They will play and fate will decide. Here’s a glimpse at the stats going in –
The competition is only 6 years old, but its roots go back for decades. The tournament is, in theory, a year-end celebration of the world’s best football clubs. Champions from each continent are competing in the United Arab Emirates from December 9th – 19th. Competitors include:
FC Barcelona: Champions League Winners
Club Estudiantes de la Plata: Libertadores Cup winners
Aukland City FC: OFC Club Championship winners
Pohang Steelers: Asian Champions League winners
TP Mazembe: CAF Champions League winners
Atlante Futbol Club: CONCACAF Champions Cup winners
And representing the host nation will be Al Ahli FC.
MLS teams need to figure out how to be more competitive in CONCACAF cup competition. If America’s best club can make it into a tournament with the UEFA Champions League winners, club soccer in this country will flourish. In order to make this happen, American clubs need to rally together and figure out how to play more games in multiple tournaments. While base salary for MLS players is staggeringly low, the organizations must understand that more games will lead to more competition, which will (we have to believe it) bring more money and fan support to clubs.
Arsene Wenger made history today by fielding the youngest-ever squad to play in Champions League competition. Their average age was 21 and, despite Aaron Ramsey’s contributions, it showed. Leonardo scored for Greece’s top-flight Olympiakos for a 1-0 finish. Both teams advance to the round of 16.
Everton boss Moyes is interested in bringing Landon Donovan aboard for the rest of the EPL season. With Seamus Coleman back in shape and Saha re-focused on his club duties, Donovan would have the support he needs to be effective both at midfield and on the attack.
Manchester City are keen on German international and Bayern Munich defender Philip Lahm. If you aren’t a big Bundesliga follower, you can see Lahm in action against Juventus today.
Depsite injuries at the club level, Lahm is a key ingredient in Germany’s dangerous world cup squad. City’s Wayne Bridge risks losing a starting position if Lahm makes the move, but this could prove to be the answer to City’s problems. Lahm is a tough defender, an excellent passer, and a big offensive threat.
Defoe’s stock was so high going into this match that we almost felt let-down by his one-goal outing. Good game nonetheless. Everton pulled off an unexpected draw. 2-2.
