February 2011
7 posts
2 tags
Last minute moves for some #USMNT players
Several players from the US Men’s National Team have moved teams during the transfer deadline today.
Jozy Altidore moved to last year’s Turkish League Champs, Bursapor for 6 months on a loan. Jozy has gotten limited playing time with his team Villarreal so, as long as he gets playing time in Turkey, this is a win for both him & the USMNT.
Michael Bradley also secured a last...
January 2011
35 posts
1 tag
Soccernomics: Why Liverpool and John W Henry will... →
Some thoughts from the Telegraph’s Paul Kelso about #LFC’s Transfer Deadline Day decisions.
2 tags
#Bundesliga Match 20 Weekend Recap
The nine matches of the game 20 weekend did not feature a lot of offense but there were no draws to speak of. Dortmund extended their lead on the rest of the table and Freiburg extended their winning streak.
Leverkusen 2 - Hannover 0
Bayer managed six shots on goal and saw two cross the end line for the convincing victory of 96. With all the scoring happening in the first half, the win...
4 tags
Firesale spells end of RailHawks brand →
The North Carolina USL-2 franchise, Carolina Railhawks, based out of Cary NC are selling off their office equipment, jerseys and essentially everything that represents their brand. The real question is…does anyone notice?
The average attendance for the games in 2010 was 2,241 with a low of 1,426 and a high of 2,879. It hasn’t seemed like it was attended that well. Oddly enough,...
3 tags
#Soccer Gains in Popularity, But Why?
According to a new Harris Poll presented by the Sports Business Journal, men’s soccer is now the favorite sport of 4% of those that follow at least one sport in the United States. This is up 2% from last year, however the total change from 1985 is only a 1% increase. Soccer trails six other sports in the United States, including hockey that has passed futbol in popularity. Professional...
WatchIf you like soccer and the #USMNT, odds are you’ve seen this by now but just in case ya haven’t -Pete
2 tags
#LaLiga Recap
NJ’s own Giuseppe Rossi scored both goals for Villarreal this weekend. I really wish he represented the USA versus Italy. Oh well. Speaking of USA, Jozy Altidore was on the bench but didn’t make it into the game. Real Madrid only managed one goal in the game versus Mallorca & it was scored by Karim Benzema who’s been in the dog house. Barcelona captured their 14th...
RT @socceroverthere: Teal Bunbury’s goal against Chile http://bit.ly/fncWgF You have to love the announcer. #usmnt @TealBunB
1 tag
#Bundesliga Match 19 Weekend Wrap Up
Here is a look at this weekend’s action and story lines from the pivotal match ups.
Hamburg SV 1 - Frankfurt 0
Mladen Petric scored in the 65th minute in a battle of middle of the table teams. Petric came in as a substitute at half time before scoring the only goal of the game. Caio sent a header from just outside the six foot box high and wide at the start of stoppage time in Frankfurt...
Some of our #soccer writers/bloggers: @SoccerByIves @SoccerInsider @JenChang88 @GrantWahl @the_number_game @dirtytackle #FF
RT @SoccerInsider: In his debut, Edson Buddle scores in the 76th minute of Ingolstadt’s 1-1 draw with Duisburg #usmnt #mls
Seriously Serie A, Seriously
I don’t have anything penetrating or even snarky to say about Serie A. I thought it was clever. Maybe not.
Instead of spending my final semester of college in a cinder-block residence hall on the campus of Guilford College, I lived in a farmhouse - attached to a castle - in the northern reaches of Italy. Schloss Brunnenburg was - and still is - the coolest place I’ve ever been as ...
3 tags
#MLS - What's With All The #NYCosmos Drama?
(New York Cosmos)
The NY Cosmos’ latest announcement of Manchester United legend Eric Cantona joining the organization as Director of Soccer has created quite the reaction today. As I skimmed through twitter for reactions, it seems like there is a lot of negative reactions. A lot of American bloggers are irritated by the moves the Cosmos are making, calling them PR stunts. I saw one tweet...
1 tag
#USMNT Onyewu gets some playing time for FC Twente →
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One Yank's thoughts on #AVFC transfer strategy
Okay, I need to preface this by saying that I don’t necessarily know all the nuances of soccer let alone Aston Villa however, I felt the need to chime in on the EPL team I’ve been rooting for about five years now.
According to all the buzz going on in the interwebs, AVFC has launched a bid for Sunderland’s scoring machine Darren Bent. While he is having a down year, he still...
3 tags
A Beautiful Numbers Game →
One of my favorite soccer blogs, A Beautiful Numbers Game, breaks down the stats of the game. Always an interesting read and I recommend a follow.
7 tags
#Bundesliga Teams Unite for Olympic Bid
All teams in the Bundesliga and 2 Bundesliga will be wearing a patch to show support for the Munich Winter Olympic bid. Munich is vying to become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics with their attempt to garner the 2018 bid. The patch, featuring the M icon shown on the balloon above, will be worn by all teams in the games scheduled January 21 -24.
The International...
1 tag
#Bundesliga Saturday Preview and Predictions
The first Saturday back for the Bundesliga has a few superb match ups. Teams in the top half of the table will be featured as FSV Mainz 05, FC Bayern Munich (Munchen), SC Freiburg, and 1899 Hoffenheim will all be on the pitch.
Mainz Vs. VfB Stuttgart
Second place Mainz is now back of Dortmund 13 points after their convincing victory over Leverkusen today. Mainz is a pretty healthy squad that...
1 tag
Watch#MLS - Soccer by Ives (probably my favorite soccer blog) has posted a video with some thoughts about the MLS Super Draft. Check it out.
Pete
My adventures into #LaLiga
By Pete
I’m making an assumption here but like most Americans, my favorite kind of soccer to watch is the English Premier League aka the EPL. As I started recruiting writers for this blog, I knew I would have to venture outside of my comfort zone of EPL to fulfill my vision of providing content from a wide range of leagues. So, Wednesday night I checked out ESPN the Ocho, I mean ESPN 3, to...
3 tags
#USMNT Legend Cobi Jones Joins NY Cosmos
By Pete
On Monday, the New York Cosmos announced that former United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) member Cobi Jones would be joining their staff after 15 years as a player and coach with the LA Galaxy. Cobi is the all time caps (games played) for the USMNT and played in three world cups for them.
The Cosmos are gearing up for a run at the next MLS franchise opening which would be the...
#MLSSuperDraft Update
By Doug
The expansion Vancouver Whitecaps wasted little time drafting on potential and taking Omar Salgado with the first overall pick. Salgado is a member of the under-20 U.S. national team. It was a little off the radar as ESPN soccer analyst and former U.S. national team member Alexei Lalas called this the “ultimate project.” Salgado is 6’4” and scored in his debut...
6 tags
So, does Liverpool really stink?
By Jeff
And I’m not talking day-to-day ups and downs of a season here, but more the big scope of wins and losses.
I think any discussion has to begin with the ownership situation. Have you ever been in a place that was having ownership disruptions? It throws everybody for a loop. We all know (or should) that environment greatly influences the actions of individuals. It stands to...
3 tags
#MLS SuperDraft Begins at Noon
By Doug
With the Major League Soccer combine over, all eyes are now on the SuperDraft as the Vancouver Whitecaps have the first overall pick. There is some debate over who will be chosen number one and rumblings are that Vancouver has been approached with offers to trade down in the draft order. Regardless, the University of Akron soccer program has garnered a lot of attention in the months...
7 tags
#EPL - I think I'm getting a man crush on...
By Pete
I got the chance to catch the end of the Liverpool - Blackpool game (aka the ‘pool derby - okay, I made that up). To my surprise, Blackpool was beating LFC and held on for a 2-1 victory.
Their fearlessness and swagger is something that you typically don’t see from a team that was expected to get crushed and sent right back to the Championship (England’s 2nd division) after winning a...
Liverpool Loses and I was working
By Jeff
I was cruising the web trying to find out what kind of games were on tonight and I misread the Fox Soccer page to say that Liverpool was on at 5pm. Excited, I started to blog about it, but then I realized it actually said it was at 3pm. As in it was over. Wonderful.
Bounced over to ESPN.com and realized that my boys sustained a loss to Blackpool (currently 9th in the table) and helped...
4 tags
#Leverkusen Adds Young Talent
By Doug
Bayer 04 Leverkusen returns to the pitch on Friday but is looking further into the future. Under-20 midfielder Karim Bellarabi will join Leverkusen on a free loan this summer. He has played 20 games for third-tier TSV Eintracht Braunschweig and notched six goals. Bellarabi’s contract ties him to Leverkusen until 2014.
Leverkusen returns to action on Friday against the first place...
1 tag
#USMNT Defender Onyewu joins FC Twente
By Pete
US Men’s National Team member Oguchi Onyewu has joined Dutch team FC Twente on loan until June 2011 - when most leagues wrap up their seasons. Gooch joined the famous AC Milan 14 months ago as a free agent but injuries and a lack of playing time has resulted in a dip in performance.
Now, he’ll get some playing time and hopefully he’ll secure a transfer this summer....
3 tags
4 tags
U.S. World Cup Reserve Buddle on the Way to...
By Doug
29-year old Edson Buddle is on his way to Germany to play for the struggling FC Ingolstadt. Buddle got some time in the past World Cup coming off the bench against England and Algeria. Buddle’s last played for the Los Angeles Galaxy scoring 17 goals in 25 appearances. He has 53 career goals in his time in Major League Soccer.
Ingolstadt added former Polish national Artur...
1 tag
Welcome to Set Pieces
By Pete
Welcome to Set Pieces Soccer Blog - a blog dedicated to the casual soccer fan. It is our goal to bring news and information about the world of soccer. It is also our goal to make our readers more knowledgeable about the game of soccer so that you can have a better appreciation of it when you happen to catch it on TV.
There will be info on various leagues, our thoughts on the latest hot...
