So I have been thinking about the stages of grief lately, this whole COVID-19 world we are living in and it’s impact on society and in a very small way…it’s impact on the sporting world and soccer. I mean, it is really becoming our new reality.

In my last post, it was all so early, we had thoughts of a quick recovery and maybe a few weeks of inconvenience….but now I think reality is setting in across Wisconsin, the country and the world. This “thing” is here to stay awhile and maybe we won’t hit the peak of the curve for another month and then how long till things feel normal again. When will all the social distancing rules be lifted, when could you hold a soccer practice or even have a game played. Interesting question s and not sure there are any answers yet. So we are just learning to be patient. We are trying as coaches to encourage players to practice on their own and stay connected to the game as best they can. But, back to the 5 stages, I think we have all gone thru it a little….Denial..Anger…Bargaining…Depression and Acceptance. For me it was more about Denial….no way we will lose our season. No way we won’t be able to practice. I am sure we will get to play in the April tournament. Wrong–Wrong–and Wrong! I kind of skipped over the anger and bargaining and just have jumped to Acceptance. It just seems the season will be hard to complete. Even if the National social distancing and Shelter in Place rules are lifted, is it likely that we will be able to have 25 girls at a practice or 100 people at a game or a thousand people at a tournament. That seems unlikely. So, now I just have decided…no expectations …and if we get to play games in May-June-July then that’s a bonus. So what now.

I am now thinking the best chance as a coach will be to plan for summer training is small groups. Why not set up a training at Soccer Park for 3-4 girls at a time. Everyone spread out, 10 feet between everyone, working on foot skills, ball mastery, dribbling, juggling, shooting….etc. No huddles, no high fives, no standing next to each other, no contact. We rotate 3-4 players every hour for an afternoon. We get every girl interested a serious training session….safely, no risk and no fear of transfer. Maybe this is how the season will progress. It’s how I am thinking about things now. As well, what about having 3-4 girls in a room …separated as we discussed….watching a game and discussing shape, formations, player movement, etc. It would give the players a chance to really learn the game, understand tactics, vision, support, game flow, etc. It could be a really valuable time to develop the players as a complete player who really understand the game. I know the ultimate goal is to “play the game”. I am with you…but until we are in the clear, I think this might be the short term future of soccer. I have started the conversation with my team manager and think soon, it will be time to extend the conversation to the team. We will just figure out a way to keep developing players, that’s our job as coaches, find a way to develop players.

Until we get outside and start the small sided training and until we have a viewing session on tactics, what can players do! Well, do you have a basement…do you have a garage…do you have a soccer ball and soon….do you have a yard. If you answered yes, then you are set. It’s time to train. I know, not the same, but challenging times require some unique solutions

I know the league is working on some creative training plans to post on the ECU Facebook site….ECU Communities 715. Sign up and check out the future videos to help you out. Until then….juggle, dribble, quick touches, 1v1 moves and ball mastery are all easy to do and WILL have a MAJOR impact on your skills and future performance. It will make you a BETTER player. Give it a shot, trust me, it works!

You don’t need much space. Check it out. Fast feet will pay off big time when you get back out on the field. Wow, those are some quick feet, nice!!

And here is some motivation for you. The Juggle Challenge. Here is some video of a U13 players crushing the juggle challenge. I counted 79. This is a pretty impressive display. Juggling will give you confidence on the field, it will benefit you in multiple ways on the field when trying to trap balls, win 50/50 balls, while trying to get shots off in a tight space. Ball control is the name of the game.

And not to be outdone, here is another video of the juggle challenge, 1v1 style for more pressure. A U13 player vs. the coach for a little fun. I think I counted 79 again, crazy and crazy impressive. Takes a little confidence to take on the coach and WIN!!

Here is the challenge. Take a video of yourself juggling and send it to me. Text the video to 715.379.7733 and I’ll load it onto my you tube account and drop it onto the blog. Anyone out there think they can beat 79. Challenge delivered! But ‘ll take a video of 20 or 30. It’s not about perfection…it’s about progress. Can’t wait to get the first video!

And here is a little more fun for you. If you need a little more motivation, check this out. Top players from across the world juggling toilt paper tolls. You have got to watch this. They are amazing and I couldn’t stop watching. Thierry Henry with the amazing pick up! Oh man. Could you get 10 juggles with a roll of toilet paper? Challenge delivered! Let’s get those videos coming!

Stay Safe and we will connect soon!

So, my first post since COVID-19 took over the sports world and our everyday lives. Not much else has been on my mind the past few weeks. It’s been a roller coaster on the stock market, a roller coaster hearing the news of China, Italy and Spain…..and now the cases are growing in the USA. At some points this thing doesn’t feel that real, but then BAM….you hear the death count rising, you hear about people testing positive, more restrictions from our government leaders, restaurants closing, businesses asking people to work from home, airlines shutting down flights, borders closing to travel…..and the impact gets very real.

First the NBA decided to shut down games….Baseball followed, the big boom came when the NCAA decided to shut down the March Madness tournament….as a UK fan that got my attention. Soccer soon followed. Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea tested positive. Mikel Arteta, head coach at Arsenal tested positive. Daniele Rugani from Juventus in Italy tested positive. Games suspended, and then pretty quickly, the Leagues were indefinitely postponed.

And now from a sporting perspective….Sports is shut down. A first in my lifetime and a sign of the times we are in right now. And I guess, for me, it is a reminder that no matter how much we all love sports, how much we follow our teams, how we schedule our lives around the start of your favorite teams games….sports is ultimately just not that important right now. Now it’s about doing our part to limit the spread of the virus. It’s not about the me….it’s about the we. Can we break the cycle of the spread. Can we get people to take the social distancing and shelter in place seriously. Can we get self quarantine to be taken seriously. I hope so, but it seems we still need more people to accept we have a serious risk. Our family has seriously limited contact this week, but I was out with friends at a restaurant 8 days ago….and this weekend had dinner with a few friends at their house….but now, I think our family is all done with that. It’s time to hunker down…time to stay home, time to wash hands hourly, time to wipe down surfaces, time to stop hugging friends, stop the high fives, shaking hands and hanging out at bars/restaurants. Go to work and shop for essentials, but other than that, its time to do what the sports world did and shut things down for awhile. As a middle (some say a bit past middle) age dude, that will be pretty easy for me. I ask all the millennial and youngsters out there to pitch in. You guys are so good at social media, face time, tik tok, Instagram and all the other apps I don’t even know about. You guys love to stay at home and play video games with friends online. DO THAT! DON’T GO OUT! Please. We need your help.

The experts are saying the USA is following the trajectory of Italy, where things are bad, huge numbers of positive tests and large numbers of deaths. We really need to “flatten the curve”. As we are getting more and more people tested, then the reality is setting in. My thoughts and prayers to all, let’s all do our part to limit the spread. Stay home and watch a movie!

So, this is a Soccer site, so maybe it is time for a little soccer. Locally, things are being impacted as the travel leagues from Eau Claire United and Chippewa Falls are canceling the early part of their seasons….thru the end of April currently. Girls High School soccer is at risk of losing their season. With schools closed for at least two weeks and maybe a few more, it might be a challenge to have a full season. Suspended seasons may extend into April or maybe even May. So lets all get comfortable with no soccer and no sports for awhile.

Okay, enough of that. I did want to share some soccer news.

US Women’s National Team

Some pretty good soccer recently with the just completed We Believe Cup featuring 4 top teams including USA, Spain, England and Japan. A round robin tournament played over a few weeks. Final standings:

1. USA 3-0-0
2. Spain 2-0-1
3. England 1-0-2
4. Japan 0-0-3

I had the chance to watch some of the games. As we have described many times on this post, it is really fun to watch our USWNT play. They play the game the right way, their talent is outstanding, they play as a team and they are pretty exciting to watch. Not to shabby to be able to cheer for the most dominant soccer team in the world, and no real challenger.

This turned out to be the best game of the three. Spain is rapidly rising the charts on the best national women’s teams in the world. They gave the USA a tough match during the World Cup and did the same again in this tournament. What a great game….just watching the highlight package again and I was nervous. US had a ton of chances, but then survived a Spain ball off the post. More US pressure led to multiple chances but no goal. Spain came aliver in the second half with a few great chances as well….and then Julie Ertz delivered. A great flick on header on a set play. Bam…1-0 USA. Great gamer, great action, very exciting.

This was another great game with a few amazing goals. The quality of the three goals from the US and the one goal from Japan were top notch….really good stuff. Megan Rapinoe’s direct kick was spectacular. 1-0 US. Then, maybe my favorite soccer goal this year, Christen Press with the trap, turn and vision to deliver a very cheeky chip from the top of the 18 into the back of the net. The courage to attempt the shot is amazing. Then the vision and technique to pull it off is truly amazing. Love it! Very cool goal! Japan did not quit, a really smart goal from some excellent passing in the box drew them to 2-1. Another attempt later in a half where they played well and took charge from the US team, bounced off the post, same post that saved them against Spain. The US team settled down and found another set play goal to earn a solid 3-1 win and 3-0 record to win the tournament. I must tell you, if you get a chance to watch the USWNT, DO IT! They are really really good and you will really enjoy watching them play. High skill, high energy, great team play and pretty likely you’ll see a victory. 31 games unbeaten, with 2-3 ties thrown in there. Their last loss was January 2019 to France. Once soccer kicks back in in the next few months…keep your eye out for another game for the USWNT. You will not be disappointed.

Keep checking in to the site. I’ll be dropping in some updates and finding some good videos and news to share. For now BE SAFE, BE SMART, HUNKER DOWN and lets do what we can to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Best to you and your families. Hope to see you on a soccer field in the near future!

So I am still trying to get over the Liverpool news from last week.. They lost, wow. I mean I am not a Liverpool fan, but that was so fun to watch and follow the streak. In a season where the title is all but decided, we had the streak to follow. So now what….how do we keep things interesting. We will just have to move on I guess.

And now that Liverpool have lost, I can now get super excited about the recent Chelsea v. Liverpool FA Cup Round of 16 game. Yes, I am a Chelsea fan, lets start there. I was really torn in cheering a little for Liverpool all season to not lose a game. But hey, we just decided we were moving on right, so is it okay to gloat a bit about Chelsea’s recent win over Liverpool. After all their wins in Premier League it was strange to read that they had lost 3 of their last 4 games when you include FA Cup and Champions League games. In honor of Chelsea….had to drop this in.

The Willian goal was a bit of a gift, but he almost scored like 10 seconds earlier, so maybe that was fair to get the goal. The Barkley goal was amazing. Not very often you see a 60-70 yard run that starts in your own half and is just one long extended dribble and then at the end, a shimmy, a shake and boom…. a wonder goal for the ages. I have watched it multiple times and just a fun goal. Such a long run and he shows great speed and ball control and just finds the perfect time to strike it into the corner. Well done Ross Barkley! And somehow Chelsea kept Liverpool off the score sheet. Liverpool now needs a win to get back on track. Spoiler Alert!! They did get a win this weekend and so maybe they will start a new record attempting winning streak!

Match Week 29 Recap

Let’s take a look at the winners this past week as the race for top 4 and relegation are still very much alive and well. The score of the week was definitely 1-0. Four matches ended 1-0 this weekend so at least it made so some exciting soccer, and a bit of drama.

1. Liverpool get back to their winning ways, 2-1 over Bournemouth.
2. Newcastle United with a 1-0 win over Southampton.
3. Arsenal with the same score, 1-0 win over West Ham United.
4. You guessed it, Sheffield United with the 1-0 win over Norwich City.
5. Crystal Palace with the final 1-0 winner over Watford.
6. Chelsea smashing Everton 4-0.
7. Manchester United with a big Derby win over Manchester City 2-0.

Dropped in a little Manchester Derby highlights. An interesting game…..Manchester City had 72% possession but fewer shots on goal than Man United. That seems weird for sure. Manchester City GK Ederson had a touch day. Most games he stops the first goal, but just could keep this one out and then in stoppage time, a clearance on a ball rolled out of the box, gets returned in the form of a long shot….and it goes in. Never seen that before. Just a strange one, but for Manchester United a really huge win as they continue to press for a Top 4 spot and Champions League play next year.

Race for the Top 4

Liverpool is a run away leader. How does the rest of the table look.

1. Liverpool 27-1-1 82 points.
2. Manchester City 18-3-7 57 points.
3. Leicester City 15-5-8 50 points.
4. Chelsea 14-6-9 48 points.
5. Manchester United 12-9-8 45 points.
6. Wolverhampton 10-13-6 43 Points

Sheffield United (43), Tottenham (41), Arsenal (40) and Burnley (39), round out the top 10. The big recent moves have Chelsea and Manchester United starting to get organized and playing better and trying to make a move on Leicester City. As well, the story of the year…after the Liverpool streak…must be Sheffield United. Newly promoted this year, their first time up in awhile, and they are sitting in 7th with a game in hand and could take over 5th and only 2 points out of the Top 4. What a story. Can they keep it going or will the pressure get to them. Quite a run this year.

The Relegation Zone

There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the relegation zone and fighting to stay up. And three of these teams all sitting on 27 points. Something must give soon and someone needs to break out of the group and lock down their spot. Who will it be. Brighton sit in 15th with 28 points, West Ham United 16th at 27 points and Watford 17th and also sitting at 27. The current bottom three include: 18. Bournemouth at 27 points 19. Aston Villa at 25 points 20. Norwich City 21 points. A tight race for sure.

Game of the Week. Match Week 29. Manchester United face another tough test. Can they get a streak going. Tottenham are faltering a bit and really need this one. A huge game for Top 4 implications.

#5 Manchester United vs. #8 Tottenham Hotspur.

FA Cup Update

The Quarterfinals are set. Just 8 teams remain to win the glory that is the FA Cup. And unfortunately, the real underdog stories are now crashed out of the tournament. All the remaining teams are from the Premier Leaguer. The only true underdogs are now the bottom of the table teams fighting for glory and respect. Here are the next round games scheduled to be played March 21st.

1. #5 Manchester United vs. #20 Norwich City
2. #7 Sheffield United vs. #9 Arsenal
3. #3 Leicester City vs. #4 Chelsea
4. #2 Manchester City vs. #13 Newcastle United

MLS Is Back!

The new season kicked off this past weekend. Lets see how things look after just 2 games played. 4 teams have started 2-0 and lead their conferences. In the East…Atlanta United are 2-0 and on top. In the West, three teams tied at the top, Sporting KC, Minnesota FC and the Colorado Rapids. In honor of our local team, the Loons, here are some Minnesota FC highlights. 7 goals. wow. But the good guys got 5!!

Liverpool. Amazing Liverpool. Unbelievable Liverpool. And now we can add….once beaten Liverpool. I am a bit conflicted today as I write about Liverpool. It was starting to get exciting. The streak was something to focus on since Liverpool was running away with the League Championship race. How many games could they win, how many in a row, how long till they would lose a game. Their last loss was to Manchester City last January and since then 44 games in a row undefeated and equally impressive, 18 games in a row winning streak. I mentioned last week that the road to the record of 50 was actually pretty good. The next few games were to lower tier teams until they would face Manchester City again as they approached the record. No way they could stumble against the likes of West Ham or Watford, ranked 19th place in the league. So as I was channel surfing yesterday afternoon, I chanced upon the Liverpool-Watford game. First half and the score of 0-0. but upon watching a few minutes the game seemed pretty competitive. Watford dropping into a low block and defending like crazy, but able to break out occasionally and look threatening.

So I continued to watch into the second, now intrigued if Liverpool would keep the streak going. the halftime pundits were not to kind to Liverpool….they were off their game and did not look sharp. Watford was full of energy and playing with confidence. 10 minutes into the second half and I look up at the TV….what!, Watford 1-0 over Liverpool. A throw in from deep in the Liverpool half, a slick move down the end line, a cross into the 6 box and bam….a tap in goal. That looked to easy and not much urgency to prevent to move from the Liverpool defenders. Well, no worries, Liverpool will crank it up and take this game over…..but they just never did. They never really looked threatening. There were not many shots on goal. A glancing shot off the post was as close as they came and then shock of all shocks…..another throw in from Watford in their half, a back heel down the line, a quick thru ball whipped toward the back line and then, what?, the Watford striker breaks thru , wins the ball, and has a 1 v 1 vs the Liverpool keeper. A touch, the GK approached and then a very slick, chip over the top of the GK and into the back of the net. Oh my! What just happened….Liverpool down 2-0 to the team in 19th place. Virgil Van Dyke, the best defender in the Premier League just got beat off a throw in?? But still 25 minutes and this is Liverpool. But it never really got better for Liverpool. Watford controlled them and limited shots and seemed fresh and full of run. Liverpool looked slow and not engaged. And then it happened. A back pass, a steal, a ball dropped into the corner of the 18 and Bam! a ripped shot into the far corner….3-0 Watford. Oh come on….what is going on….is their an alternate universe premier League I am watching. But it did happen….Watford shocked Liverpool 3-0. This was not a late game, lucky win off a crazy rebound….this was a thorough beating of the top team in the league on a record run by a team about to get relegated out of the Premier League. Wow—wrap your head around that for a minute. Have I ever said this is a really difficult league and any team can beat anyone on a given day. The biggest shock of the Premier League so far this season for sure.

And so the record run ends. 44 games unbeaten and good for second best all time. 18 games winning streak, just 1 short of the record. Liverpool still has several record to play for, but a little of the magic just rubbed off their season. The 2003/2004 Arsenal team just popped the cork off some Campaign and gave a big, phew!, it really seemed that Liverpool was going to do it and break the their record. Hats off the Liverpool for a great run, it was exciting to follow and now let’s get on with the week 28 wrap up.

Match Week 28 Recap

Let’s take a look at the winners this past week as the race for top 4 and relegation are still very much alive and well. Only 5 winners this week with several draws and a few games postponed due to weather.

1. Watford shocks the world and Liverpool, 3-0.
2. Crystal Place with a 1-0 win over Brighton..
3. West Ham United with a solid 3-1 win over Southampton..
4. Norwich City with a critical win, 1-0 over struggling Leicester City..
5. Wolverhampton with a key 3-2 win over Tottenham.

Race for the Top 4

Liverpool is a run away leader. How does the rest of the table look.

1. Liverpool 26-1-1 79 points.
2. Manchester City 18-3-6 57 points.
3. Leicester City 15-5-8 50 points.
4. Chelsea 13-6-9 41 points.
5. Manchester United 11-9-8 42 points.
6. Wolverhampton 10-12-6 42 Points

Tottenham (40), Sheffield United (40), Burnley (38), and Arsenal (37) round out the top 10. The top 4 have been the same for awhile, but Leicester and Chelsea are hanging on and several teams in the hunt and chasing them down for a top 4 finish. But none of the teams in the 3-8 spots seem to be able to get on a run of games and take charge. It will be an interesting finish for the Top 4 race. Manchester City’s potential ban from UEFA Champions league die to financial fair play rules violations will become a very big story as the season progresses. Maybe the 5th place team gets in!

The Relegation Zone

There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the relegation zone and fighting to stay up. Brighton sit with 28 points, West Ham United at 26 points and Watford with their big win get to 27. The current bottom three include:

18. Bournemouth at 27 points 19. Aston Villa at 25 points 20. Norwich City 21 points. Norwich City with a huge 3 points this week if they want to try and climb out of the cellar. A tight race for sure.

Game of the Week. Match Week 29. The Manchester Derby is always must see TV. #2 Manchester City vs. #5 Manchester United.

UEFA Champions League Update

The round of 16 leg one is now complete. These games are home and away with the winner advancing to the Quarter Finals. There are 8 games per session and the final 4 games of Leg 1 were completed this week. Here are the results.

1. Athletico Madrid (Spain) took down mighty Liverpool (ENG) 1-0.
2. Dortmumd (GER) beat PSG (France) 2-1.
3. Atalanta (Italy) had a decisive win over Valencia (Spain)
4. RB Leipzig (GER) took down Tottenham (ENG) 1-0
5. Bayern Munich (GER) demolished Chelsea (ENG) 3-0.
6. Napoli (Italy) drew against Baarcelona (Spain) 1-1.
7. Lyon (France) took down mighty Juventus (Italy) 1-0.
8. Manchester City (ENG) defeated Real Madrid (Spain) 2-1.

Germany 3-0 and looking strong!

MLS Is Back!

The new season kicked off this weekend. Two new teams make their debut with Nashville and Inter Miami kicking off play. Inter Miami had David Beckam in the ownership group and is trying to bring sexy back to soccer in Miami. That’s 26 teams now in MLS. Let’s see if Minnesota FC can take another step forward and make a deep run in the playoffs this year.

More expansion coming in the next few years. Austin FC, St. Louis, Sacramento and Charlotte should all be joining in 2021, 2022 and 2023. #0 seems the right number, but we will see. MLS is booming and the fans are showing up.

I am finding that work keeps getting in the way of the fun stuff, coaching soccer and blogging about soccer. A tough week in the office, but I am back and catching up. thanks for your patience.

Liverpool. Amazing Liverpool. Unbelievable Liverpool. This season is all about Liverpool. I have decided this should be the start of every blog until they lose a Premier League game. The streak….let’s see where they stand. I think it’s 43 and counting….maybe 44….I’ll need a little more research……and the record is Arsenal’s 49 games unbeaten, so now they are close.

Can they be beat….well,….Athletico Madrid says yes, yes they can. In a Group 16 UEFA Champions League game this week, the unthinkable happened, Liverpool lost….1-0. Let me repeat that, Liverpool lost. It was not a Premier League game, so it does not count against the streak, but at least it gives other teams some hope. What do the next 5-6 Liverpool league games look like. Is there another loss in there somewhere. Here are weeks 27-31 with the opponents place in the league: West Ham United (#18), Watford (#19), Bournemouth (#16), Everton (#9), and Crystal Palace (#2). and then…of course, it’s all very poetic….the last team to beat Liverpool is Manchester City, so who do you think they play with the chance for the record….of course…Manchester City, the #2 team in the table. Oh man, I can’t wait for that game, and I hope Liverpool stays unbeaten until then. What drama at that point. Oh my! Can they do it. I think they can.

Match Week 26 Recap

Let’s take a look at the winners this past week as the race for top 4 and relegation are still very much alive and well. 8 winners this week.

1. Liverpool wins 1-0 over Norwich City.
2. Everton takes down Crystal Palace 3-1.
3. Tottenham gets an injury time goal for a 3-2 win over Aston Villa.
4. Sheffield United with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.
5. Manchester City with a solid 2-0 win over West Ham.
6. Burnley with a quality 2-1 win over Southampton
7. Arsenal with a dominating 4-0 win over Newcastle.
8. Manchester United with a controversial win over Chelsea 2-0

Race for the Top 4

Liverpool is a run away leader. How does the rest of the table look.

1. Liverpool 25-1-0 76 points.
2. Manchester City 17-3-6 54 points.
3. Leicester City 15-5-6 50 points.
4. Chelsea 12-5-9 41 points.
5. Tottenham 11-7-8 40 points.
6. Sheffield United 10-9-7 39 Points

Manchester United (38), Wolves (36), Everton (36), and Arsenal (34) round out the top 10. A 22 point lead at this point is the season is pretty amazing….never have seen that before.

The Relegation Zone

There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the relegation zone and fighting to stay up. Brighton sit with 27 points, Bournemouth at 26 points and Aston Villa at 25. Bournemouth making the biggest move the last few weeks out of the relegation zone. The current bottom three include:

18. West Ham United at 24 points 19. Watford at 24 points 20. Norwich City 18 points. Norwich City slipping a bit but then the next five are all with in 3 points. A team can win and jump 4-5 spots.

Games of the Week. Match Week 27. There are two big clashes this weekend to keep an eye on.

1. #2 Manchester City vs. #3 Leicester City
2. #4 Chelsea vs. #5 Tottenham

Chelsea News. A recent tough stretch of games for Chelsea. Several top players are out with injury, the GK has been sent to the bench and their luck in games has been tough as well. The game with Tottenham is a big game and who will be in 4th after this week is important for the rest of the season. Chelsea injuries to Abraham, Pulisic, Kante, Mount, and Tomori have meant some strange line ups lately. And the VAR decisions from the game with Manchester United were tough. What analysts described as an easy red card was not even called a foul on Harry Maguire and then later in the game he scored. A goal for Chelsea is overturned by VAR when it seemed pretty clear that a Manchester United player started the action that led to a foul by a Chelsea player. Later, a Chelsea goal was overturned by VAR due to a toenail offside call. Just a night when everything went Man U’s way….that happens….you just hope this weekend the soccer gods might even the luck a bit…Chelsea is due for sure. A big game!!

UEFA Champions League Update

The round of 16 has started. these games are home and away with the winner advancing to the Quarter Finals. There are 8 games per session and the first 4 games of Leg 1 were completed this week. Here are some results.

1. Athletico Madrid (Spain) took down mighty Liverpool (Eng) 1-0.
2. Dortmumd (Ger) beat PSG (France) 2-1.
3. Atalanta (Italy) had a decisive win over Valencia (Spain)
4. RB Leipzig (Ger) took down Tottenham (Eng) 1-0

The remaining 4 games are scheduled for the week of Feb. 24th.

The Premier League has decided it’s time for a break. Literally, they took a break and shut down games for two weeks in the middle of the season. This was the first time in league history and a welcome break for clubs and players during a grueling season….but a bummer for fans. I need me some soccer! It will be curious to see the quality of games coming up in another week. Will the rest and relaxation pay off and games will be fast paced and exciting. Will injuries be down as players had a chance to recover and heal their bodies. We shall see, but in the meantime, let’s see what else is going on in the world of soccer.

Women’s Olympic Qualifying

The US Women’s National Team is in the midst of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics this summer. Their region CONCACAF, is deep into the qualifying tournament and this past Friday the semi-finals were held. Good news for the US team.

In Semi-Final play the US beat Mexico 4-0 and Canada beat Costa Rica 1-0, earning both the US and Canada a berth in the Olympic Games. The two teams will play in the finals on Sunday, already assured a spot, the game should be fun and free flowing. The two teams have met in the finals the past three qualifying tournaments.

USA 4 Mexico 0. Samantha Mewis scored two goals while Rose Lavelle and Christen Press scored the other two goals. It was the US teams 27th consecutive victory. Wow! Impressive. The US has made every Olympic tournament since the sport was added in 1996 and the US has quite a history in the tournament.

Champions: 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012

Runner Up: 2000

Their only tournament not making the finals was in 2016, when they were knocked out in the quarter finals by Sweden, and Germany was the eventual Champion. In 2000, Norway beat the US in the finals. The US, ranked #1 in the world, will be favorites for their 5th Olympic title this summer in Tokyo Japan. Let’s see some highlights from the Mexico match.

Watching the USWNT is such a treat, the quality of play across the field and the quality players in every position is remarkable. In this game, the dominance of the US midfield was apparent. 3 of the 4 goals were from the midfield in Mewis and Lavelle, During the World Cup, Rose Lavelle (UW-Madison player) became a star and now her midfield teammate Mewis is beginning to make a name for herself as well. It is sort of a thunder and lightning due. Lavelle quick and wiry and can strike fast for goals, Mewis is a beast who can dominate the midfield and use her strength to overpower players. It’s a great combination.

USA vs. Canada goes off at 5:00 CST on Sunday on FS2 (FoxSports). I found it on our local Spectrum cable and would encourage everyone to take a few hours and check it out.

Men’s Olympic Qualifying

The Men’s National team is not quite in the same place as the Women’s team. The US team is currently ranked 22nd in the FIFA rankings. There are eight teams in CONCACAF playing for two qualifying spots in the Olympic tournament. USA and Mexico are rated as the top 2 going into the tournament, but we have found with the men’s team, anything is possible….both good and bad. Their 4 team group in Round 1 of the tournament includes Mexico, United States, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. The top 2 teams advance after round robin play in late March, first game is March 20.

One interesting note for the Olympic Men’s tournament is that they only allow countries U-23 teams to be involved. So you will not see our normal Men’s National team….they do make 3 overage exceptions and some of the younger players are also on the main team, but all the “old guys” will only be watching. This is all about the young guns! Can our developing and younger players find a way to advance to the Olympics. The next generation needs to step up. Who will be the break out stars, who will step up and carry us to glory! The men’s program could use a boost and something to build on for the future!

FA Cup Update

Round 5 is coming soon and there are now 16 teams remaining in the Cup. Here is a breakdown of the next round…a few surprise teams are still involved as well as some traditional powers facing off.

1. Portsmouth vs. Arsenal
2. Chelsea vs. Liverpool
3. West Brom vs. Newcastle
4. Reading vs. Sheffield United
5. Tottenham vs. Norwich City
6. Leicester City vs. Birmingham City
7. Sheffield Wednesday vs. Manchester City
8. Derby County vs. Manchester United

A few interesting notes.

Biggest Underdog. Portsmouth is 5th in League 1, that’s two levels below Premier league team Arsenal. This will be the Davids vs. Goliath match up from this round.

Championship League teams remaining. 5 teams from the Championship League still remain and all would be huge wins to take down a Premier League team and advance to the Quarter Finals round. West Brom is 1st, Sheffield Wednesday 11th, Derby County 13th, Birmingham City 15th and Reading 16th in the Championship league.

Wayne Rooney vs. Manchester United. One of the most interesting match ups will pit Manchester United versus one of their all time legends Wayne Rooney. Rooney left the club a few years back and moved to the MLS. He was picked up recently by Championship level Derby County and has helped them thru a few rounds of play in the past month. And now, what a match up. Is it possible that Rooney could find a way to lead Derby past the club where he became a legend. Must see TV for sure. What a match up!

UEFA Champions League

The first leg of the Round of 16 will be played February 18th thru February 25th. Get ready for some great match ups.

1. PSG (France) vs. Dortmund (Germany)
2. Bayern Munich (Germany) vs. Chelsea (England )
3. Manchester City (England) vs. Real Madrid (Spain)
4. Juventus (Italy) vs. Lyon (France)
5. Liverpool (England) vs. Athletico (Spain)
6. Barcelona (Spain) vs. Napoli (Italy)
7. RB Leipzig (Germany) vs. Tottenham (England)
8. Atalanta (Italy) vs. Valencia (Spain)

League Tables around Europe

1. Bundesliga first place is Bayern Munich
2. LaLiga first place is Real Madrid
3. Serie A first place is Juventus
4. League 1 first place is PSG

Top Goals Highlights

In honor of the women’s Olympic qualifying for the US team, lets take a look at some of the top goals from this past years World Cup tournament.

Liverpool. Amazing Liverpool. Unbelievable Liverpool. This season is all about Liverpool. This is how I started the post last week and I think its where we need to start again this week. The Liverpool train continues charging toward an unbeaten season.

This past week Liverpool played two games, their regular week 24 clash and then a makeup game from a match missed earlier in the season. And as expected….two wins in two tries. Unbeaten season intact.

In honor of Liverpool. I wanted to share a video of their pregame routine where the fans sing, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. It quite inspiring and a bit emotional….to hear the entire stadium singing as one….wow. To be in that stadium with all those fans! A little history on the song and how it connected with Liverpool. The song was part of a successful Broadway musical, “Carousel” from 1945 and then in the UK, the song’s most successful cover was released in 1963 by the Liverpool area music group Gerry and the Pacemakers, peaking at number one on the UK singles chart for four consecutive weeks. Sung by Liverpool fans in 1963, the song quickly became the football anthem of Liverpool FC which adopted “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as its official motto on its coat of arms. The song is sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game at Anfield with the Gerry and the Pacemakers version played over the public address system. Enjoy!

Unbeaten Season/Streak. 24 down and 14 to go for the season. Their current streak of undefeated games is 39 stretching back to last year. Third best in Premier League history. They are 10 games away from tying Arsenal’s record of 49.

It’s all about Liverpool and I think I might cheer them on. It could be the greatest single season in Premier League history. Just 1 game where I won’t be cheering them on….Chelsea!! Take a look at the Liverpool season so far. Enjoy!!

Match Week 24 Recap

I know we have crowned Liverpool, but after that, things are getting interesting. There is still a race for the Top 4 and the teams are battling it out. This past week there were 8 winners in the 10 games. Here is a recap.

1. Liverpool wins 2-1 over Wolverhampton.
2. Bournemouth takes down Brighton 3-1.
3. Aston Villa with a 2-1 win over Watford.
4. Southampton with a big 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
5. Manchester City with a top 10 win over Sheffield United 1-0.
6. Leicester City with a dominating 4-1 win over West Ham United.
7. Tottenham wins 2-1 over Norwich City..
8. The surprise of the week, Burnley take down Manchester United 2-0

Race for the Top 4

Liverpool is a run away leader. How does the rest of the table look.

1. Liverpool 23-1-0 70 points.
2. Manchester City 16-3-5 51 points.
3. Leicester City 15-3-6 48 points.
4. Chelsea 12-4-8 40 points.
5. Manchester United 9-7-8 34 points.
6. Tottenham 9-7-8 34 points.

Wolves (34), Sheffield United (33), Southampton (31) and Arsenal (30) round out the top 10. a 19 point lead at this point is the season is pretty amazing….never have seen that before.

The Relegation Zone

There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the relegation zone and fighting to stay up. Brighton sit with 25 points, Aston Villa at 25 and West Ham United at 23. The current bottom three include:

18. Bournemouth at 23 points 19. Watford at 23 points 20. Norwich City 17 points. Norwich City slipping a bit but then the next five are all with in 2 points. A team can win and jump 5 spots.

Games of the Week. Match Week 25. There are three big clashes this weekend to keep an eye on. 6 of the Top 7 playing each other….that’s a treat for soccer fans.

1. #5 Manchester United vs. #7 Wolverhampton
2. #2 Manchester City vs. #6 Tottenham Hotspur
3. #3 Leicester City vs. #4 Chelsea

Chelsea News

So as a Chelsea fan, a tough weekend. What started out great…a 1-0 lead over Arsenal and a David Luiz red card puts Arsenal down a man. 1-0 into the second half and the second goal feels like its coming. Arsenal counter attack….Kante, Chelsea’s best midfielder slips and that leads to a breakaway. Arsenal’s first shot of the game leads to a goal. Oh man., 1-1. Chelsea continue to press and get shots and then it happens, Chelsea take back the lead in the 84th minute, okay, they’ll see the game off and get the win. 3 minutes later, yes, only three minutes later, Arsenal counter attacks, the defense gets a little soft and gives a little opportunity for a shot…Arsenal’s second shot of the game finds the corner, 2-2. What the heck! Chelsea has over 60% possession, has 19 shots on goal and scores 2. Arsenal have 2 shots on goal and score 2. Ugh! Uff da! Dang! 19 shots to 2 and a man advantage and they draw, seems pretty unbelievable. How does that happen.

But then comes the fun part of the weekend for a Chelsea fan. Manchester United with a chance to cut the point differential from 6 down to 3 and put a ton of pressure on Chelsea’s Top 4 plan….lose to Burnley, 13th in the table, 2-0. Whew! Still have the 6 point gap.

Things get very interesting for Chelsea the next few weeks. They are 6 points clear of 5th and holding the important 4th spot. Their next three games. Leicester City (currently 3rd), Manchester United (currently 5th), Tottenham (currently 6th). Oh my—that is three really big games, back-to-back-to-back. If Chelsea can survive the next three and hold the Top 4 spot, maybe they are safe, but its a big three week run. They tend to play big in big games, but three in a row. We will learn a lot about Frank Lampard’s team in the next few weeks.

Liverpool. Amazing Liverpool. Unbelievable Liverpool. This season is all about Liverpool. I am not a fan of Liverpool and my team is Chelsea…..but this season I have to get credit….Liverpool is far and away the most dominant force in the Premier League. And even though I cheer for Chelsea, I think I am going to cheer a little for Liverpool to see if they can keep their undefeated streak going. Let’s talk about it.

There have been two undefeated season in Premier League history. The first goes way back….Preston North End went 18-4-0 (Win-Draw-Loss) in league play as well as winning all their Cup matches and taking the FA Cup in the 1888-89 season. Their final record that year was 23 wins and 4 draws. An historic season. It took over 100 years for another team to match Preston North End. In 2003-04 season Arsenal….nicknamed “The Invincibles” matched the undefeated season. They finished that year 26-12-0 (W-D-L), amazing that they had 12 draws. That was 12 games where 1 single goal, 1 magic moment from the other team would have ended the streak….wow. Including a few wins to end the previous season as well as the start of the next season, Arsenal reeled off 49 games without a loss. Their record over that time was 36-13-0. Their star was Thierry Henry.

And now we have Liverpool. In last years run to the title, Liverpool reeled off 15 straight games undefeated but came up just short of Manchester City in 2nd place on the final table. This year they have steamrolled the league. After 22 games played they have 21 wins and 1 draw. That is just amazing to write and amazing they have done it. Week 9 they were drew with Manchester United 1-1, other that that, all wins. Early in the season it just seemed everything was going their way. In the span of a month I think there were 2-3 games where they were in danger of a loss or in danger of a draw; but somehow found a way to win. Late goals. Extra time goals. Penalties in extra time leading to winning goals. But lately, there has been no luck needed. Liverpool is just running over teams….and quality teams too. I happened to turn on their game today against 5th place Manchester United. Two top 6 teams and you would expect a great match, tight and competitive……wrong. I caught about 30 minutes of the game. Liverpool totally dominated the game. It was a red wave……it was a complete assault on the Manchester United defense. Attack after attack, shot after shot. It was overwhelming to watch. I saw a goal overturned with offsides. I saw a few hit then post. I saw a few just wide. I saw 2-3 great saves…..and that was just the 30 minutes I watched. It could have been 4-0 or 5-0. The final was 2-0, but from what I saw, that does not do the game justice. A crushing defeat, a dominating performance.

The highlights give you a little idea of the game. Liverpool on the attack. In the 1:45 minute clip there was only 1 Manchester United highlight. And it did not include a few shots I saw while watching. Liverpool—oh my!

Potential Liverpool Records. So what is next for Liverpool. We discussed they are chasing an undefeated season. 23 down and 15 to go. Their current streak of undefeated games is 37 stretching back to last year. They are 12 games away from tying Arsenal’s record of 49. Other records they might hit this year. Most points. Manchester City set the record of 100. Liverpool are on pace for 112 out of a maximum points total of 114 in a season. Most wins. Liverpool have 1 draw. The record is 32 wins and Liverpool could shatter that one as well. On pace for 37. Most Home Wins. The record is 18 and Liverpool have not lost yet and could get 19. Away Wins. The record is 16 and Liverpool on pace to break that one too with 18.

It’s all about Liverpool and I think I might cheer them on. It could be the greatest single season in Premier League history. Just 1 game where I won’t be cheering them on….Chelsea!!

Match Week 23 Recap

So the question this week…..who wants to be in the Top 4. It seems no one wants it. It might just end up that the top 4, other than Liverpool, will be who just doesn’t mess up too bad. No one really challenging or putting together wins. It was an interesting week for the Top 10 teams. Lets review.

1. Liverpool wins.
2. Manchester City draw.
3. Leicester City loses.
4. Chelsea loses…in the 94th minute. Ugh!
5. Manchester United loses.
6. Wolverhampton wins.
7. Sheffield United draws.
8. Tottenham draws.
9. Crystal Palace draws.
10. Arsenal draws.

Only two wins in the Top 10….that’s crazy. The other three teams to earn a win this week were Burnley, Newcastle and Norwich City.

Race for the Top 4

Okay, we have discussed, Liverpool is a run away leader. How does the rest of the table look.

1. Liverpool 21-1-0 64 points.
2. Manchester City 15-3-5 48 points.
3. Leicester City 14-3-6 45 points.
4. Chelsea 12-3-8 39 points.
5. Manchester United 9-7-7 34 points.
6. Wolverhampton 8-10-5 34 points.

Sheffield United (33), Tottenham (31), Crystal Palace (30) and Arsenal (29) round out the top 10.

The Relegation Zone

There are now 6 teams within 3 points of the relegation zone and fighting to stay up. Brighton sit with 25 points, West Ham United at 23 and Watford at 23. The current bottom three include:

18. Aston Villa 22 points 19. Bournemouth 20 points 20. Norwich City 17 points. And Norwich just won and picked up a big 3 points this week.

Games of the Week. Match Week 24.

1. Chelsea vs. Arsenal. Che;lsea really need a win.
2. Liverpool vs. Wolves. #1 vs. #6. Can someone give Liverpool a game?

History of the FA cup

The FA Cup, also known officially as The Football Association Challenge Cup, is an annual competition in men’s professional English soccer . First played in 1871, it is the oldest soccer competition in the world. It is named after the Football Association or FA.

The competition is open to any eligible soccer club down to Level 10 of the English football system, not even sure what Level 10 is, but I do know that means a lot of teams are eligible to be part of the tournament. It would be like if in America, we had a football tournament and invited every pro team from the NFL, as well as semi-pro teams, college teams, etc. Every team who wants in, gets in! So if we do a little math, that’s 20 professional clubs in the Premier League and 72 teams from the next three levels of the English system….Championship Level, League 1 and League 2. It also includes several hundred from lower level leagues, what we call levels 5-10 of English football. Over 700 clubs have competed in previous years. There are a bunch of early rounds to weed thru some of the lower lever teams. The Premier League jumps into the tournament in the Third Round….which was just completed this weekend.

In the modern era, only one non-League (below Level 4) team has ever reached the quarter-finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final. As a result, significant focus is given to the smaller teams who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely “giant-killing” victory. Winners receive the FA Cup trophy, of which there have been two designs and five actual cups; the latest is a 2014 replica of the second design, introduced in 1911. Winners also qualify for Europa League play the and a place in the Community Shield match. Manchester City are the current holders, having beaten Watford 6–0 in 2019. Arsenal are the most successful club with 13 titles.

What is so cool to me is the idea that a lower tiered team gets a chance to knock off a team from the Premier League. Imagine if a team from college, maybe even a lower tiered college program was able to play a team from the NFL or NBA…..and beat them. It would shock the world. This happens almost every year in the FA Cup! The ultimate upsets! You are an instant hero to your local town and a club legend for sure!

Third Round Update

As we started the 3rd round , there were 64 teams alive in the FA Cup. The third round is when the Top 20 teams, representing the Premier League jump into the tournament. So this is the round where we start to get the big upsets and the amazing story lines start developing. Lets see what happened this past weekend. Only 1 game remains to finish off the round.

Three Premier League Teams drew and will have to play again to determine a winner to advance. These teams narrowly escaped dropping out of the tournament and will have to play again. They are all feeling a sense of relief that they were not knocked off so quickly. Tottenham, ranked #6 in the Premier League was drawn by Middlesbrough who sit at 16th in the Championship Level. That’s 30 positions between these two teams. Wow! Watford, currently 19th in the Premier League were drawn against Tranmere. Tranmere sit in 21st in League 1, yes, two leagues down. The gap…46 spots. Uffda! Newcastle United, sitting at 13th in the Premier League tied with Rochdale. Rochdale is 18th in League 1. Yes, that’s two levels down and the gap between the two teams, 47 spots. Ouch!

But at least these three Premier League teams lived to fight another day, there were three Premier League teams that we not so fortunate….and they dropped out of the tournament in Round 3. A bit embarrassing for sure.

Championship level team Fulham, a team who has spent a lot of years in the Premier League took down Aston Villa 2-1. The gap between the two teams was only 8 spots with Fulham sitting 5th while AV is 17th in the Premier League. An upset for sure, but not earth shattering. Sheffield Wednesday, Championship level but with a long and storied history in English soccer (8th position) took down Brighton 1-0, sitting in 14th in the Premier League. A bit of a bigger upset. The gap of 14 places in the leagues makes this a little more surprising. And the big winner for upset of the weekend…Derby County currently 17th in the Championship beat Crystal Palace who sits in 9th in the Premier League. A bit amazing a Top 10 Premier League team goes down in the 3rd round. A gap of 28 places makes this the big winner for surprise of the weekend. This was an interesting game. A name you might know….Wayne Rooney…was just signed by Derby County to try and help them get promoted to the Premier League. Wayne took a little tour in the MLS this past year, and decided to give English football another go! As with most upsets, there is a story. Crystal Palace was issued a Red Card….after a VAR check….and a yellow card was upgraded to Red for violent conduct. A first in VAR history. Rooney is back and in the 4th Round of the FA Cup. Very Interesting!!

So we now have three Cinderellas….Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County and Fulham. Is it possible that Middlesbrough, Rochdale or Tranmere could join them. Good stuff! It makes for a very exciting tournament and something for every fan to cheer for….the upstart underdog against the big boy Premier Club!! 32 Teams will remain and the draw for the next round is tomorrow. Who will be the next big club to go down!! 15 Premier League teams remain (two of these lost to another Premier League team).