Landon & Ashley

Oh, the irony. When Landon Donavon signed on for a three month loan deal at Everton they were myriad reactions. Some were pessimistic (He's too soft for the Premier League, he's a failure in Europe), some were optimistic (He'll dominate, the US will finally be taken seriously), and some were realistic (Please don't let him get injured, the US is doomed without him).

Well, not only was Landon part of an Everton team that upset Chelsea earlier this week, but his challenge has put Ashley Cole's participation in the 2010 World Cup in doubt. Of course England do have a ready-made replacement in...Wayne Bridge. Oh, this is going to be fun!

Jack Wilshere

The youngster is on loan at Bolton for the rest of the season, and he made his debut against Manchester City on Tuesday night, starting on the left wing in place of Matty Taylor, whose poor form has had supporters begging that he be dropped for at least two months.

Wilshere is left-footed, so the left side would seem to be a natural fit for him, but I am not so sure that he wouldn't be more effective on the right. He didn't put in many crosses, and he looked most dangerous when he ran at defenders and then cut inside towards goal. It seems to me that if he were to do this from the right wing he would be in better position to shoot with his good left foot.

Position aside, he started the game off very well, getting the ball in space on the left and making several pacey runs at the defense. He also played some nice one two's with Johann Elmander. Pablo Zabaleta, an Argentine international that started at right-back for Manchester City, did not seem able to cope with Wilshere's pace and creativity early on.

Unfortunately, his impressive start didn't last. As is normal with such a young player (Wilshere just turned 18 last month), he drifted in and out of the game, combining glimpses of his talent with silly mistakes (he committed at least two fouls when his opponent was at least 60 yards from goal and not posing any real danger) and positional errors.

All in all, it was a good debut. He lasted about 75 minutes, and there can be no doubting his talent. He has a lot to learn obviously, but he seemed to pick things up very quickly, as his defensive positioning and sense of where his teammates would be did improve throughout the match.

It is also worth noting that for the remainder of this season Wanderers will be relying on an almost absurdly young midfield. 31 year old Ricardo Gardner and Matt Taylor (28) appear to have been pushed to the margins of the first team. That leaves Wilshere, who is just 18, Vladimir Weiss (20), Lee Chung-Yong Chris Basham, and Fabrice Muamba who are all 21, Mark Davies, who will be 22 next week, and Stuart Holden, an inexperienced 24 year old. Tamir Cohen is the veteran of the group at 25.

Manchester City vs. Bolton Wanderers

This was a pretty good match to watch. Both teams were trying to attack, with Manchester City having more success in the first half and Bolton coming into the game after the break.

I wold like to mention Paul Robinson, who started at left back for Bolton. Robinson has moved back into the starting XI due to the absences of Gary Cahill and Andy O'Brien, which has forced Sam Ricketts into the center of defense. Robinson is a competent left-back, but nothing more than that. His greatest liability is that he is slow. And this lack of pace is why he had to make a tackle from behind in his own penalty box. The referee had an easy decision, and Tevez luckily put the ball in the back of the net only after it ricocheted off Bolton's keeper.

I personally just can't understand why Robinson was on the pitch instead of JLoyd Samuel. Since Samuel arrived at Bolton two and a half years ago he has been in and out of the first team. He has performed quite well when he has played, yet each of the 3 managers he has had have tried desperately to find someone to replace him. Usually I like to give the managers the benefit of the doubt in this type of situation, after all, they are the experts. Maybe he doesn't practice well. Maybe he is a poor communicator on the pitch. Maybe he doesn't have good chemistry with the other members of the back line.

But at the moment all of this is bullshit. Bolton Wanderers are locked in a relegation battle. There is no honor in going down with dignity, and there is no reward for character or sportsmanship. The best player at each position needs to be on the pitch.

Gary Cahill For England!

In 2014 unfortunately. It looks as if the outstanding Bolton central defender, still only 24, will be out for "several months" according to Owen Coyle. It seems he has a blood clot in his arm. This is a serious condition, not football related, and we can only hope he makes full recovery.

This is a huge blow for the Wanderers, as Cahill is easily their best defender and possibly their best overall player. He has been called into the England squad by Fabio Cappello on the basis of his defensive prowess, but he has also scored 7 goals this season, which leads the club.

So yes, the relegation battle has just got more difficult for the Lancashire club, but we should still have enough to stay up.

Some combination of Zat Knight, Andy O'Brien, Danny Shittu, Sam Ricketts, and Chris Basham will cover the center of defense for the next few months, and hopefully Cahill will be back in August to help celebrate Bolton's 10th consecutive season in the Premier League.

Super Sunday every week

I've got my hot cuppa, I've got my beans on toast, and I am ready to watch Chelsea play Arsenal in what the English media is billing as a title decider. The fact that after today each club will have 14 more league matches to play doesn't fit into the narrative, so is being dutifully ignored.

I believe this is a symptom of a larger change in the Premier League, which many have yet to notice or appreciate. This change is that the talent gap has closed, not between the top and the bottom, where it is still a gulf, but between the top and the middle. Gone are the days when Arsenal can complete a season without losing a match, or Chelsea can lose only 1 match on their way to 92 points.

The big teams are dropping points this season, and I believe their are 2 reasons for this.

First, as I mentioned above, clubs such as Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham, and even Everton have improved. Maybe not to the point where they are going to challenge for the title, not this year anyway, but to the point where they can take points off the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea far more frequently than they could 3 or 4 years ago.

Far more interesting is the second reason for this trend. This centers around the bottom of the table club's reaction to the strengthening of many formerly mid-table teams. In past years, a relegation threatened club expected little to no points from 8 matches against the so-called Big Four. The manager would put 10 men behind the ball in the away match and hope not to get embarrassed. And the home match wasn't very different, with the best case scenario often being a single point. This left another 30 matches from which to achieve the 40 or so points needed to stay up.

With the improvement of the other clubs I mentioned, managers of clubs such as Hull, Wigan, Bolton, Sunderland, etc., had a decision to make. They had to decide if they were able to sacrifice even more games, put even more importance on the matches against fellow strugglers. Some, such as McCarthy, Megson, Hart, chose this route. But many others went in the other direction. They decided to abandon the tactic of sacrificing matches, to actually try and win every game their club played. And it has completely changed the look of the league.

A lot more goals are being scored, a lot more end-to-end football is being played, and a lot more points are being dropped by the members of the big four. In fact, I would wager that Manchester United has seen more clubs play two strikers against them so far this season than in the previous 2 seasons combined. Now this tactic doesn't always work, we have seen some struggling clubs try to attack the big sides and get embarrassed 4-1, 5-0, 6-2, even 9-1 on 1 occasion.

Personally, I like this change. This newfound ambition can only be good for a league that had become all too predictable the last few years.

2 Points Lost...

...to a bad refereeing decision. Bolton were in control for the whole match and should have gone ahead on a couple different occasions. Squandered chances by several players, most notably Lee Chung-Yong and Johann Elmander were probably most to blame for the failure to get 3 points, coupled with a few excellent saves by Mark Schwarzer, but Bolton's most notable opportunity ended with Kevin Davies putting the ball in the back of the net.

The referee disallowed the goal for a push on Fulham's defender. But I can't find any push, by Davies or any other Bolton player in the Fulham 18 yard box. Neither could the match commentators, or the writers providing minute by minute coverage for The Guardian, Skysports, or the BBC, three entities not known for giving Bolton Wanderers the benefit of the doubt.

This result is a bit of a blow for Bolton, whose next two league matches are away to Manchester City and Wigan, with an FA Cup home tie against Spurs in between. Owen Coyle will know his side need to take 4 points from these next two matches, as Wigan is their game in hand against a fellow struggler.

Bolton Wanderers v Fulham

This is not one of the marquee match-ups in the Barclay's Premier League this weekend, but it is intriguing just the same. For me, the games between mid-table teams are the most exciting in many cases, and here are a few reasons why;

a.) Confidence. Both sides will go into this match feeling like they can take 3 points. Both managers will have pointed to this game an opportunity to move up the table. This means we will see both sides playing with several attacking players and trying to get the ball into the box.

b.) Supporters. These sides don't draw 50,000 fans every week. Their away support is usually quite pathetic. You don't see a lot of Wanderers shirts outside of Lancashire, and you don't even see a lot of Fulham replica shirts in London. However, the small fan bases these clubs do possess, are fiercely loyal and devoted. And they possess one other quality which is rare among sports fans; realism. Both of these clubs were promoted in 2001. Both have struggled with the threat of relegation, while also qualifying for the Europa League. The great thing about the fans of these clubs is that they know what the ceiling is for them. They can finish anywhere between 7th and 17th and the fans will be glad they stayed up and excited about pushing up the table in the next season.

c.) Goals. Neither side is especially good defensively, and both have shown a flare for scoring goals.

This all comes down to one thing. We are going to see an exciting game of football at the Reebok. It might not be a high level of football, and it is unlikely that a lot of neutrals will tune in, but fans of Fulham and Bolton will be entertained.

Unfortunately, Owen Coyle and Roy Hodgson will be missing some key players. For Bolton, striker Ivan Klasnic is out with an injury. The big Croatian will probably be unavailable for a couple more weeks. This most likely means Johann Elmander will get a chance to show new manager Coyle what he is capable of. For Fulham, a large aspect of their attack is int he trainer's room. Andy Johnson just had knee surgery and is done for the season, while Clint Dempsey has ligament damage in his knee and probably won't be back until April.

I still think there will be a couple goals in the match, and while I myself will not venture a prediction, as a longtime Wanderers fan, I hope the home team takes 3 points.

Liverpool 2, Bolton Wanderers 0

A tough loss, but not a poor performance. Liverpool dominated possession, but did not create a whole lot of chances until late in the second half. Lee Chung-Yong got past the keeper and had an excellent chance to score in the first half, but his shot was cleared off the line. It would have certainly changed the tenor of the match if he had managed to get that goal.

Liverpool looked better than they have in a while, but they still looked vulnerable at the back. Every time Bolton managed to put a cross in, or a long throw for that matter, the back line looked a little shaky.

Owen Coyle played an attacking 4-3-3, similar to what was used at the Emirates last week, and Bolton's first few minutes showed that they were not just at Anfield to make up the numbers.

Unfortunately, Kevin Davies continued his poor run of form. He gave the ball away, didn't create any chances for himself, and even his flick-ons did not have their usual accuracy. New signing Vladimir Weiss got a decent run out in the second half, although Jack Wilshere didn't get to make his Bolton debut.

I am not worried, it was unlikely we would get anything from this match, and as long as the performances continue to improve, the points will come.

So much for an easy group...

The thinking after the FIFA World Cup draw in December was that the US and England had drawn an excellent group. Most assumed that after a tough opening match against each other, the two English speaking countries would cruise into the knockout stages of the tournament.

Slovenia is still something of an unknown quality, but Algeria has just thrown a wrench into these plans. In order to qualify for the World Cup, Algeria had to get past Egypt, a very good squad which has won the last two Africa Nations Cups. Now, Algeria has knocked odds-on favorites Ivory Coast out of this months showcase in Angola.

So, undoubtably the bookies will still have England favored to win the group, and the US likely to advance, but things have now become must more interesting.

Landon Donovan

I was glad that he was going to give the Premier League a try this month, a player of his talent really belongs in a top European league. However, I was concerned that he would find it difficult to get a game, considering the attacking midfielders they have (Felainni, Peinaar, Cahill, Osman, Arteta), and the fact that Donovan will only be there for 10 weeks.

But I was wrong. I have just turned on the Arsenal/Everton match, and not only is he debuting today, but he is in the starting line-up. He appears to be playing on the right wing, which will match him up against the likes of Traore and Denilson.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

Donovan has just put in a cross that Osman has headed home. What a start!

Baseball Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Andre Dawson. I wouldn't have voted for him, but I don't think he is a ridiculous inductee. He has the worst OBP of any outfielder in Cooperstown, but there are worse players who have made it.

These are my opinions of the other players who were on the ballot this year.

Robbie Alomar: Possibly the best 2B of the last 50 years. Should of been elected easily. He wasn't for two reasons. The first is that his career ended relatively early. He suffered a severe drop off after his 33rd birthday, played very poorly for the Mets at the end, and was out of the game when many of his contemporaries were setting records for performances by players in their 30's.

The second reason is that he spit on an umpire. He apologized and the umpire forgave him, but the behavior is still reprehensible. It is not a reason to keep someone out of the Hall of Fame though. Babe Ruth once punched an umpire in the face.

Bert Blyleven: Probably belongs in the Hall, and I have said in the past that I would vote for him, but by no means is he a slam dunk. I heard an interesting comment on the MLB Network today by one of the Sports Illustrated writers regarding Blyleven. He said, "Blyleven is in the best 2% of players in baseball history, but in order to get into the Hall of Fame you have to be in the best 1%."

Jack Morris: A slightly above average pitcher with a few outstanding playoff performances. Not really close for me.

Barry Larkin: A bit of a dilemma, as he seems to fall in between eras for shortstops. He just follows the generation of Ripken, Trammel, Ozzie Smith, and Shawon Dunston. If you compare him to that generation, and every one before 1995, he looks like one of the ten best hitting SS's of all-time. But later in his career, Larkin was surpassed by A-Rod, Jeter, Garciaparra, and even Miguel Tejada.

I would probably vote for him, but if someone was making a passionate argument against they could convince me otherwise.

Lee Smith: No. Anyone who ever watched him pitch would never vote for him to make the Hall of Fame.

Edgar Martinez: As anyone who has ever discussed baseball with me knows, I despise the DH, and wish it could be stricken from the game. Until that day comes, it is a part of the game, and if a DH were worthy of enshrinement, I would support him. However, in order for a DH to be worthy, he would have to perform at an exceedingly high level, probably as one of the ten best hitters in the game, for an extended period of time, at least 15 years. I can't say that Martinez fits the bill.

He was dominant for seven seasons (1995-2001) posting an average OPS of over 1.000. But in his other 11 seasons, his numbers, compared to other DH's, were average. He is close, I can't lie. When one looks at his numbers, they are quite impressive. At this time, I wouldn't vote for him, but I think I may be convinced within the next couple years.

Tim Raines: I just don't see it. He had very good numbers, and was a dynamic player throughout the 80's, but I don't think he is a Hall of Famer. Going back to the earlier quote, I think he is a 2 percenter, falling just a bit short.

Mark McGwire: Should already be in. One of the best power hitters of all time. A career OPS of .982, to go along with 583 home runs. The only argument against him is that he might have taken steroids. Along with 80% of the players in MLB during his career. I would vote for him with absolutely no qualms.

Gary Megson

I have tried to support him, since I believe stability is extremely important for any club, but I am afraid it may be time for him to go.

World Cup revisits 1776

It's the Mancs vs. the Yanks in the World Cup, as England and the US have been drawn together in Group B. They will face off in South Africa on June 12th, and it should be great fun.

An England win is likely, but that will not be too big a disappointment for the US.


The headlines will be about LA Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and David Beckham (pictured above playing chicken at a pool party in North Hollywood), but the match will likely be decided in the center of the pitch. where Michael Bradley, the young US midfielder who currently plies his trade for Borussia Munchengladbach in Germany's first division will come up against the likes of Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), and Gareth Barry (Manchester City). It will be very important who Bob Bradley (US coach) decides to partner with his son in the middle of the park. Ricardo Clark (Houston) is a dogged ball winner who has been preferred in the past, but he is a red card waiting to happen. After the last World Cup, where the US had 3 men sent off in 3 matches, players of Clark's ilk may be left on the bench, if not the tarmac. Which brings us to one of the most perplexing players on the US squad.


Benny Feilhaber, a Brazilian born midfielder who currently plays for AGF Aarhus in Denmark, has had an up-and-down career with a good, yet brief spell with Hamburg in Germany followed by a disastrous stay at Derby County in England. He has shown glimpses of his talent, and would be a great partner for Michael Bradley, yet a rampaging ego and inability to get aong with any manager he has ever played for have left him on the fringes of the squad.

I think the fact that England/USA is the opening match for both teams works in America's favor. All of the pressure will be on the English, who will be expected to win and win big by the media and fans, who deliriously overrate the team. The US can relax and just play their game. If England wins, it is no big deal, the results against Slovenia and Algeria will determine if the US advances to the next round. Yet if the US draws or (highly unlikely) wins, it will be a massive jumping off point for them. And it will be treated by the English press as the biggest disaster since Thatcher's election.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Something doesn't seem right here...

Football Atheist

I sit on my futon this morning watching a tape delayed soccer match from Germany between Wolfsburg and Nurnberg. I have posted the VFL Wolfsburg team logo to the left.

A couple minutes ago I checked my Fantasy (American) Football team line-up and realized that I had no idea what any of these players looked like, what their team's records were, or who their teammates are that are not on my FF squad. I just don't watch it at all, or pay attention to it other than my fantasy team. In fact, on the recent occasions where I have turned on an NFL game, I have been bored out of my mind after about 45 seconds.

At this point, I watch a lot of soccer from all around the world. Rush Limbaugh woud probably accuse me of being a communist, but I do watch some local sports as well. I watch a lot of baseball, and as we get deeper into the season I will watch more and more NBA. So I am not completely un-American... I am just more excited about this weeks Champions League matches than I will ever be about any sort of NFL match-up.

To be perfectly honest, I could not even tell you who has won the last few Super Bowls.