Soccer Saturday Night

Well if last night's live blog wasn't enough action for me, I decided to spend almost my entire day watching soccer, between trying to pretend that I have a life. I had some sort of built-in alarm clock that woke me up at precisely 7:41 AM, just in time to see the Premier League debut on ESPN2 with Hull City @ Chelsea, and I'm finishing it up with an MLS doubleheader. Here now your weekly dose of ramblings about the beautiful game from the American Arsene Wenger.

-Did Arsenal manager, the real Arsene Wenger (above) see that I picked his Gunners 7th in the EPL table? They beat Everton from pillar to post today in a 6-1 thrashing. What an unreal performance, as seemingly nobody in the red and white, even Nicklas Bendtner, could do wrong. I don't think either team is as strong/weak as what we saw today, but Arsenal made a statement to the doubters (including me!) today, big time.

-Chelsea escaped with a 2-1 win at home to Hull thanks to Didier Drogba's stoppage time goal. Audacious chip or misplaced cross? You decide, I'm sure only Drogba truly knows. Good effort from Hull, and especially new winger Stephen Hunt. Ancelotti breathes a big sigh of relief to withstand the pressure on his job, for a week at least. He's hoping to at least last longer than Grant, Hiddink, or Scolari. That would be stability for Chelsea.

-Shocker of the day saw Wigan beat Villa 2-0 at Villa! Goal of the week from Hugo Rodallega as well. Villa could be in big trouble this season, they were totally outplayed from start to finish, credit to Wigan.

-Man City only struggled to a 2-0 at Blackburn. A win is a win, but I was a little underwhelmed. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Gareth Barry impressed for the nouveau riche. All the other results in the EPL were pretty much no surprise, Wolves & Burnley suffering defeat in their first games after promotion.

-In Germany, perennial favs Bayern have opened the season with 2 draws after tieing Werder Bremen today 1-1. The pressure will really mount on Bayern if they get off to a slow start this season after failing to win the Bundesliga last year. Will they give in and sell Ribery? I say no, but it will be interesting to see what panic buttons are hit by the end of the transfer window. I can see a Wolfsburg repeat in Germany, what a shock that would be.

-Can't envision too many dramatic last minute signings with the transfer window shutting in a few weeks. Maybe Liverpool brings in a CB? Maybe some of the bottom EPL teams bring in reinforcements? Nothing major shaping up though. Then again, you never know when Real Madrid or Man City might come along and bid $50 Million for Nicklas Bendtner after today's game!

-Stateside, the hometown Crew beat FC Dallas 2-0. Good to see reigning MVP Schelotto come back on the field for the last minute as well. The Crew are absolutely on fire (in Marv Albert voice) winning 5 straight and taking the lead in the race for the Eastern Conference and the Supporter's Shield. Columbus, and the other top MLS teams start play in the CONCACAF Champions League this week as well. It'll be interesting to see how much importance the teams put on that competition with MLS' poor performances lately. Domestically, it looks like it is shaping up for a Crew/Dynamo MLS Cup showdown, which would be awesome.

-Speaking of the Dynamo, they're tied at the half against RSL. A drab first half and a sending off for the Dynamo means we'll probably see them pack it in for the 2nd half and look to counter with Holden and the quality they have up front. Houston will have to battle it out with Seattle and a surging LA Galaxy (with Becks behaving himself) to win the West, but they have the quality to do it with 3 guys who appeared for the US against Mexico.

-Speaking of the US game against Mexico, (brilliant segues Mr. Yoder I is what you're thinking at home I know!) Landon Donovan's largely crappy performance has been explained by a case of the swine flu. And before all of the ethnic jokes begin, he caught it in the US, not Mexico. Guess that explains why he got blown by on that last Mexican goal. (Insert any combo of either Mexico/Donovan/Beckham/Swine flu joke here).

That'll do it for the SSN Update. We'll be back to the beautiful game early next week with our results from the Week 1 pick 'em, our Week 2 picks, anything we might have missed, and a CONCACAF CL preview. Whew! Maybe by tomorrow Y2 will be back to give me a much needed blow. I feel like I've pitched a Harvey Haddix this weekend. (If you don't know who that is do yourself a favor and look it up!) We'll be back with a PGA recap, and a special announcement about a cool thing we're doing here at RSS over the course of the rest of the year very soon. In the words of Arsene, au revoir and bonne nuit.

Soccer Saturday Night

We'll take a break from the moneyball debate to bring you thoughts on the world of soccer. Mr. Yoder 2 and I were at Columbus Crew Stadium to watch a fantastic game between the Columbus Crew and Toronto FC. The Crew got two goals in the 76th and 92nd minute from Stephen Lenhart and Jason Garey to pull out a dramatic 3-2 victory. It was an enthralling contest from start to finish as the Crew now own the MLS' longest ever home unbeaten run of 19 games and move into first place in the Eastern Conference. Here now some random thoughts from the beautiful game. (Free of David Beckham, I promise)

-Disappointing that most Toronto FC fans boycotted the game in Columbus after an incident involving fans from the first meeting in March (above). Only about 100 were present tonight compared to over 2,000 at this year's season opener. One TFC fan was tased outside of the stadium and others were arrested after fights broke out in the parking lot. As a Crew fan, I may be a tad biased in this regard, but if TFC fans proclaim to be the best and most passionate supporters in the league, then man up and come to Columbus. It's not like police acted unjustly to Toronto fans involved in fights and damaging Crew Stadium property. To boycott a game over a minor incident seems petty and childish. Too bad their beloved Reds could have probably used the support in the heartbreaking loss tonight.

-On the world stage, Manchester City made two more marquee signings by swooping Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal and Carlos Tevez (right) from Manchester United. These are great moves by City on two fronts. First, it gives them a pair of top drawer strikers with loads of Premier League experience who should complement each other well. Secondly, they weaken their rivals at the top of the league by signing two players with a chip on their shoulder wanting to get back at their old clubs. They would do well to sign a defenseman though.

-A blockbuster in the making as it looks like Inter Milan will swap Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o plus extras. Imagine Carmelo Anthony being traded for Dwayne Wade. Hard to say who gets the better end of this deal as both are world class players. However, one has to wonder why Barca manager Pep Guardiola would want to tinker with an offense that was so dominant last season in winning the Spanish treble (La Liga, Copa Del Ray, Champions League). Eto'o gives Inter a proven CL striker, but will the pretentious Big Z be able to mesh effectively with Henry and Messi in Spain and finally break through in the CL?

-English giants Liverpool and Chelsea must hold on to Xabi Alonso and John Terry respectively if they are want to seriously compete in England and Europe next season. The money from Real Madrid and Man City are tempting for the Reds and Blues respectively, but Alonso and Terry are both critical to their teams' success. Alonso is a maestro in the center of the park for Liverpool and his presence allows Gerrard his desired freer role closer to Fernando Torres and Terry is the heart and soul of Chelsea's defense. Letting them leave means kissing any sort of meaningful hardware goodbye this season.

-Finally, the Gold Cup Final tomorrow pits bitter rivals Mexico and the US together from Giants Stadium. While both sides are throwing out younger players and second teamers, don't underestimate the importance of this game. With soccer gaining steam in the States, Bob Bradley's men would do well to win the North American title and continue their impressive summer. Also, the winner gains bragging rights and plenty of confidence heading into the crucial WC Qualifying showdown at the Azteca on August 12. I'll pick the US to win tomorrow 2-0 on goals from MLSers Stuart Holden (left) and Robbie Rogers.