Euro final liveblog

Once again, I will be joining forces with This is Extra Time to liveblog the final. Apparently Ballack's fit, but Villa's out, so I have to call this for Germany. I hear you can never count them out.

Spain/Italy liveblog

Let's see if Spain can avoid their usual routine of playing well in the group and then choking at the earliest possible opportunity. My guess: probably not. Italy's defense is kinda weak, but Spain is Spain. Here's hoping.

Italy/France liveblog

Yet another liveblog!

This time, though, not a Euro game, but the other game today. The one that no one cares about -- United States v. Barbados, in the first leg of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. The United States is on a three-game scoreless streak, but to be fair, their last three opponents were England (FIFA ranking: 9), Spain (4), and Argentina (1). Barbados is currently 142nd in the world. I'm predicting a US win, but you know. Stranger things have happened. But they probably won't.

Anyway, I've given up and admitted that I like the US, so I will be liveblogging this game, along with Goalscoring Robot and anyone else who wants to join us. 5:00 ET.

I am a liveblogging machine.

This time, it's Spain v. Sweden. I think I've given up and I'm cheering for Spain, even though they'll inevitably let me down. But I'm a Liverpool girl, so I have to cheer for Torres and Xabi in the off-season, too, apparently.

Anyway. You can follow the blog here or at This I Extra Time, and like before, you can comment as well. Yay technology!

Short notice, live blog

Just a quick heads-up to everyone: I will be co-liveblogging France v. Netherlands over at This Is Extra Time. Head over there to read our play by play and post your own comments! If I can figure out how, I'll post the blog over here.

ETA: Oh, look. I am brilliant.

Not-quite-live blog: US/Spain

So, This Is Extra Time and I co-hosted a liveblog of the US/Spain game. However, because I am a dingbat, I didn't think to post the link here so y'all could follow it live. We'll just call this a ... I don't know. Almost-live blog.

CRY MOAR.

Yeah, okay, England won. But Michael Bradley upset Frank Lampard, and really, that's all I ask these days. Bonus points to Baby Bradley for wearing black shoes with the black socks and shirt. I respect a boy that knows basic principles of color coordination.

Hi.

Um, finals and graduation and moving back home meant something had to give, and apparently it was everything related to soccer in general and this blog in particular. I would promise to do better, but I just started my bar review course this week, so I'm pretty sure that'd be a lie. I'll do my best, though, and hey, at least it's the off-season?

...Oh right, Euro. With England out, I'm not sure who I'm supporting. I know it's not Portugal (ew Ronaldo), and I have a hard time getting fully behind Spain. While they are awfully pretty and talented, it's Spain. They're gonna choke, and I'm not sure I can handle that. So, here it is. Make your case for what team I should support. Right now, I'm at a loss.

True confession time: I'm actually okay with United winning the double this season. And I won't be able to watch the US/England friendly, what with no ESPN Classic on my cable and the previously-mentioned bar study, I will be interested in the outcome. Because a year ago, I would have been all "pfft, whatever, America," and I still don't think they're gonna win or anything, but. I'll be cheering for them.

Ugh.

I knew I spoke too soon about England being competent.

England in actually-competent shocker

...I shouldn't jump the gun on declaring them competent, I guess, if past history is anything to go by. (Scolari and Hiddink, anyone?) But at least they seem to be looking at real candidates this time. I'm kind of surprised at myself, but I tend to think Mourinho's a good choice. I loathed him at Chelsea, but I think he might be good for England. If that team needs anything right now, it's someone who won't be overawed by the glamor of all the famous people on the team. Considering Mourinho apparently bought Shevchenko just to not play him and prove they could win anyway, I think he fits. Klinsmann, Capello, and Lippi would also be interesting -- I know Klinsmann speaks English, but I don't know about the other two. Mostly, though, I'm relieved to see that the FA isn't looking under every rock and bush trying to find an English coach who can do it. If McClaren taught them anything, it should have been that midlevel Premiership coaches aren't really up to the job. Even if they are English.

In other news, I'm more than a little ashamed to admit this, but I kind of love BobbyBoswell.com. Though someone needs to tutor Marc Burch on run-on sentences and the difference between its and it's. Just saying.

Waiting-too-long-to-post news

Between travel and Thanksgiving, my post about England, Russia, Israel, and Croatia is pretty much entirely moot now. England only needed a draw against Croatia (who had already qualified) at home to make it to Euro 2008. They couldn't do it, McClaren got fired, and now no one wants the job.

I have to say, I'm not surprised by any of this. England lucked out that Israel won on Saturday to keep them alive this long. They lost to too many teams (and too many bad teams) along the way for me to say they deserved to qualify. At some point, being a big name doesn't get you anywhere, and they reached that point. McClaren didn't have any ideas that Sven didn't have earlier -- by the end, they were still trying to play Gerrard, Lampard, and Beckham all in the same midfield. Like, weren't they trying this before? And didn't it fail horribly then? They're just out of ideas, and chose to bring someone in who would just do more of the same. I don't know how anyone's surprised that they didn't qualify. (And yeah, injuries and all that. Wouldn't have made a difference if they'd done what they needed to earlier.)

And I really can't blame anyone for not wanting the England job, either. The media and the public think you've got a better squad than you do (Paul Robinson, starting keeper. Honestly.), you'll be blamed for absolutely everything, and anything less than winning the World Cup is a failure. I understand having high standards and all, but really, shouldn't the team be able to qualify consistently (and well) before they worry about winning anything? O'Neill's apparently ruled himself out, and I wasn't horribly thrilled with the idea of him regardless, so what the hell. Mourinho for England. Most of those players need their egos taken down a step or two, he'd be more interesting at press conferences than McClaren, and they might stand a chance of making it to the World Cup. (Yes, I know, easy qualifying group. Didn't they say that about Euro 2008?) Based on sheer entertainment value, I'm backing Mourinho. Not that the FA listens to me, but at least I make more sense than Brian Barwick.

Redesign and watch party

I'm fixing to head out to DC, but some quick things before I hit the road:

• I redesigned the blog. This also involved editing my blogroll; I had to take off some dead links and I added some new blogs that I've been reading recently. (How did I not know about Soccer Insider until now?) If you were on there before and I dropped you, leave me a comment.


• Mourinho to New York? I won't lie, this would be pretty awesome. If Bruce Arena was too outspoken for the league's taste, I shudder to think what they'd make of Jose. But at least it'd be fun to watch. I may not like him, but he's definitely entertaining.


• If you're in DC this weekend, there's a US/South Africa watch party going on. I can't promise I'll be there -- I don't do well with early mornings. But it looks like a good time, so I wanted to pass the word along.

Friday linkspam

With an international twist this time, since we're coming up to the last round of Euro qualifiers.

• McClaren recalls David Beckham. Because for a must-win game against Croatia, you totally want an oldish midfielder that has barely played a game since he went to MLS. If anyone ever doubted that McClaren is completely out of ideas, this should be all the proof you need.


• The US named their roster for the friendly against South Africa. I'm glad to see some of the younger players get called up, like Altidore and Edu and Kljestan (...and Eddie Lewis. I don't know.) I kind of wish they were playing a European opponent, but I guess that's hard to do with the Euro qualifiers. Anyway, South Africa should be an interesting opponent, and it's probably a good idea to go down there before the World Cup. Um, assuming they qualify.


• I really have no comment on this story. Except that man needs a job, and fast.

Greg Ryan out as US Women's coach

Oh, thank god.

Should have happened right after the World Cup, but better late than never. I would have liked them to have a replacement lined up. Everyone remembers the clusterfuck after Arena got dumped, right? Not that I'm anti-Bob Bradley, but still. That was a lot of drama no one needed, especially after the keeper drama.

Not dead yet.

Honestly, if England did this, they might get me to care about them again.

Um, yeah, I'm still alive. Sad to say, I don't have anything stunning to report. Liverpool don't seem to be into it this season, which makes it hard for me to care that much. I'll get excited for the Everton game this weekend, but they drew at Birmingham and lost to Marseille, and ugh. The only change I'm seeing this season is that we have a more expensive striker that Rafa's refusing to play consistently, and we've switched from a slow start to the season to a slow October. It's still not great for our title hopes. I do think they should be able to beat Everton, but the sooner Agger and Alonso come back, the better. As my rec-league team can tell you, you need some sort of connection between the defense and the attack, and Steven Gerrard flailing around just isn't enough.

And yeah, I have to admit it. I've lost the England love. I may come back around by Euro 2008, but they've got to start playing better (3-0 against Estonia doesn't count, sorry). They keep making the same mistakes and McClaren's afraid to drop big names, and it's kind of like Sven never left. Which isn't surprising, but it's depressing nonetheless. (And seriously, the US team is just so cute. I don't think England chicken-fights, and more's the pity.)

Ugh.

Frustrated with the sports blogging world today, so I'll just say I wish this were real.

Oh, and also, if I hear another comment about how lame women's soccer is, yeah. It'll be way too soon. And I'll think you're an asshole.

What I've been reading

A few blogs I've been meaning to link, but haven't. Because I'm lame. But I really enjoy making lists in HTML, so here we go.

1. First of all, a newish women's soccer blog, Kickster. British, and seems to be in the Who Ate All the Pies family of blogs. Georgina Turner, who I've missed a lot at The Guardian, is writing there, and so far I really like it. It's one of my perennial resolutions to pay more attention to women's soccer, so I'm definitely going to be reading this one.


2. Another new blog, Dying Midseason, from a friend of mine. Liverpool-focused, but also has some American football and Argentina and Spain, too. I have to say, I don't care about the NFL, but this is good stuff.


3. I already linked the US Women's blog this morning, but I would be remiss if I didn't link the US Men's blog as well. They're both mostly active when the teams are in camp (obviously), but they're pretty great then. I'm always in favor of team blogs, and the USMNT one is particularly cute. It's kind of refreshing to read about a national team where the recreation is Playstation and marathon keep-up, not, you know. Partying with hookers.

International round-up

• England 3 - Israel 0. I'm not feeling the England love lately, and I had an elsewhere to be, so I didn't watch this one. (Remember how I said school was kicking my ass this semester? Still true.) Since I was absolutely convinced that England weren't going to qualify, though, this is kind of good to see. And it's especially good to see Michael Owen score again, especially when he doesn't break something immediately after doing so. A lot still depends on Russia, but this is fairly encouraging. I do wish I believed that Steve McClaren had even the slightest clue about what he was doing. I feel that as soon as Lampard's fit, he's back into the lineup, and that's just a bad plan for everyone.


• Brazil 4 - United States 2. I did watch this one, and the score is flattering to the Brazilians, honestly. Their first goal was an own-goal, and the US was unlucky to concede a penalty while getting at least two penalty calls against Brazil denied. I thought the US played pretty well overall -- the usual striker problem continued, though. Dempsey's goal was solid, but Wolff should have done better. The midfield was pretty solid, I think, and by the midfield I mean "Michael Bradley." I think I've already talked too much here about my thoughts on him, but he was absolutely everywhere in this game, and totally unafraid to take on Ronaldinho or Kaka, which is great. Well, great for most of the game -- just like it happened in the Gold Cup semi, he made a bad tackle in the last few minutes and became a liability, conceding that penalty for Brazil's last goal. Feilhaber and Donovan disappeared for large parts of the game, which wasn't unexpected (especially for Donovan), but was a little disappointing. The defense seemed overwhelmed for a lot of the game -- there were a lot of panicky clearances -- but even with that, they did pretty well, the own-goal excepted. (Yeah, I'm still not an Onyewu believer. You need more than being massive to be a good defender.) And then there's Tim Howard. While I would have liked to see Chris Seitz get capped, this wouldn't be the ideal first game, and you've got to respect Tim Howard for playing with a dislocated finger. Pretty awesome. I mean, Brazil was Brazil, and I never thought the US was going to win. But they made a good strong showing, and it's nice to see them not get intimidated. (Also, dear Kaka, I don't think Jesus likes it when you claim an own-goal as yours. Shut up, darling.)


• And finally, the Women's World Cup starts today in China. The US are the favorites here, and while they haven't gotten a ton of media coverage, the games are being shown live on ESPN/ESPN2 -- admittedly starting from 5:00 to 8:00 in the morning, but still. Also, they blog. The other team I'll be paying attention to is England. Unlike the men, the women aren't favorites here, and they definitely don't make $200,000 a week (or even a year). I can't pretend to know a whole lot about most of these players, but I am pretty much always pro-Rachel Yankey. Though not as much as I am pro-Kristine Lilly. Just saying.

Friday linkpost

• Liverpool/Chelsea this weekend. While this almost always means a lackluster game, it always means managerial sniping. Which was fun a few years ago, but guys, seriously. Just kiss already. You know you want to. That said, though, "Abramovich has done a really good job"? BURN.


• England squad named for Germany friendly. Calling up injured players because you don't want to try new things? It's like 2006 all over again! And seriously, did Scott Parker run over someone's puppy?


• Speaking of stories we've been seeing for years, Michael Owen is almost fit again. Until he actually plays a game, that is. He used to be one of my favorites, but man. It's been a long time.


• David Beckham scored, and no one was there. Except 17,000 for a midweek game, especially a non-league one, isn't that bad. Especially when no one thought he was going to play, let alone start, let alone score. Ooops. I know the backlash has begun in earnest, but is anyone pretending that most fans 1) know or 2) care what the Superliga is? Because, no.


• And finally today, another American goes to a doomed Premiership team. I like Benny Feilhaber -- yeah, that's not a secret -- but I still don't think Derby has a chance. Maybe he can commiserate with the three Americans at Fulham.