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Soccer Banter

Off the Ball

2/24/2014

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1.  Clint Dempsey might have been better served taking a Dononvan-like sabbatical after the Sounders season ended. Or maybe that was his thinking when he went on loan to Fulham as no one has seen him play a match since February 4th. The Dempsey of 2012 needs to return to the field soon or his place in the starting lineup for the USMNT will be in jeopardy. 

2. Did the US media and supporters all see enough during Julian Green’s TWO minutes of action in a Champions League match in November to believe he needs to be on the plane to Brazil?  That’s correct, Green has played all of 120 seconds of first-team soccer. But sure, he’s been raised in Germany and on the books at Bayern so he deserves to make it over seasoned veterans like Herculez Gomez, Chris Wondolowski, Mike Magee, Juan Agudelo and Terrance Boyd.

3.  In last year's Champions League, no English teams advanced to quarterfinals, and after Manchester City and Arsenal lost at home last week the trend could continue for a second straight year. Ironically the club with the best chance to advance is the one currently in sixth place in the Premier League. 

4.  The Director of Sport at a Bundesliga club played college soccer at Northeastern University. Your move, BU! 


5.  Which club is currently on the hottest streak in the Premier League? Here's a hint - it's the team that the Special One accused of "playing football from the 19th century" - West Ham United, winners of four in a row, but still only 7 points away from the drop zone.


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6.  Honestly, doesn't seeing Jon Flanagan in the lineup for Liverpool give us all hope in life? He's skinny, not athletic, goofy looking, wears #38, yet he starts for one of the best teams in England. 

7.
  Thank you, Major League Soccer. Someone finally woke up in their NYC offices and realized it was time to end the reign of Chivas USA.  A great decision, but ironically at time when the team has a solid coach in place with a roster that might actually win some games for once. 

8. The Euro draw was held today and besides the tricky tie with Gibraltar, Ireland should be favorites to advance to EURO 2016...thankfully for the green and white, the European Championship has expanded to 24 teams.  And people make fun of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying. 

9.  With his new contract Wayne Rooney can now afford to make all bald men in England extinct. 

10.  It might have taken Bobby Clark 27 seasons to win his first national championship as a college soccer coach, but it took even longer for one of his own records to be broken in the Scottish League. This past weekend, Celtic goalkeeper, Fraser Forster, broke Clark's 43 year old record of consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. Clark, an Aberdeen legend set the record of 1,155 minutes in the 1970-71 season, which at the time was also the British record, which he held until some Dutch goalkeeper named van der Sar broke it in 2009. 

11.  Four points separates the top four teams at the top of the table. Seven points separates 10th place from a relegation position.  Eleven matches to go. Enjoy the ride, it's not always this exciting in the Premier League. 


12.  Back to the Green topic…if Julian was as great as some Americans are believing he is…do you really believe the German Federation would even let him flirt with the United States? 

13.  D.C. United, Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC, San Jose Earthquakes, Los Angeles Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, Columbus Crew, Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids. Will there be a new champion in Major League Soccer this season?  Predictions from supporters of MLS coming soon. 


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    Brendan Faherty

    Faherty is currently the Assistant Women's Soccer Coach at the University of Washington. He passionately supports four clubs, but is always following the game at many different levels. 



    Off the Ball
    Random observations from the last week of soccer. 



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Soccer Banter: Been Kicking Since March 1, 2011