This weekend was a nice little break from the EPL as international duty took over. Over here at Wembley, Fabio Capello’s reign as English manager continued to chug along with a 5-1 win against Kazakhstan despite a scoreless first half.

But one of the main issues that came out from the win was the boos that came from the crowd at different points in the game. The ones at the halftime whistle were certainly unnecessary, because although England didn’t score they were certainly controlling the run of play. Any one of Theo Walcott’s runs/crosses could have produced a goal, and while the finishing touch wasn’t there, the five goals in the second half weren’t a shock.

Ashley Cole got his share of boos to for his misplay that led to the lone goal for the visitors. Still, the fans should bite their tongue with the squad continuing to look strong in qualifying under the new leadership. Maybe they’re forgetting the Croatia miseries that still must be fresh in their minds? Worse things have happened than a “subpar” 5-1 victory.....read the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d13-A-look-back-at-an-international-weekend

The question is where Carlos Tevez will be fitting into this lineup with Dimitar Berbatov up front now. Tevez played some beautiful football during the first month of the season while Rooney seemed to struggle at times, but he has now started only one of United’s past five games. There was talk earlier in the season about signing the Argentinean to a long-term deal, but it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be excited about such a move now. ......read the rest at: 

 http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d8-EPL-discussion-and-the-Tevez-issue

We’ve mentioned the state of English football and their money-crazy ways before, as well as given you some links to writers who believe it has gotten out of control. Most recently, there was this post about the opinions of culture secretary Andy Burnham on the state of today’s game.

So we certainly have some interesting news today, as FA chairman David Triesman has attacked the 3 billion pounds of debt in the football industry (mainly among the top Premier League clubs), and talked of potential salary caps, as well as harsher ownership regulations. This has (as the article shows) and no doubt will continue to tick off the Premier League and their clubs.

On top of that, UEFA general secretary David Taylor talked about the potential for excluding teams with debt from European competitions (hello Champions League).

It will be interesting to see how the FA/EPL clash plays out, as the FA has not been the strongest force while English football has financially skyrocketed. Its assertion of these potential changes should make for some dicey exchanges in the near future......read the rest at:

http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d8-Salary-caps-for-the-EPL 

Fine, I admit it. I’ve laughed at scarves, made fun of people who wear them, and generally think they look really dumb/preppy. And yet on Tuesday night I found myself as one of probably 30,000 people strolling into the Emirates Stadium sporting that particular clothing article with an Arsenal/FC Porto half-and-half pattern, thinking I was pretty much The Man. When you see all these people doing it, it somehow becomes extremely cool (yea, OK, I was kind of a follower in high school).

The purchase of that scarf came following a stroll around the area (which I thought had a really nice, low-key vibe to it) and some fish and chips to tide my appetite. My buddy Andy and I then had the necessary pre-game pint with Arsenal supporters in a pub before heading into the stadium.

The Emirates is the anti-White Hart Lane, as I quickly found out. While Tottenham’s stadium employs the ragged, ordinary warehouse-looking style on the outside, the Gunners’ home is new-age, flashy and just flat-out cool. Nothing wrong with it, just completely different, more modern and a huge money-maker thanks to the 60,000-plus people it can fit.....Check out the rest at:

 http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m10d1-Taking-in-ArsenalFC-Porto-at-the-Emirates

While the mid-week days over here in the UK have been full of some entertaining Carling Cup action that lets us see some of the young talent starting to emerge with some of these clubs, back home in the U.S. it brought another tough go for MLS clubs in the CONCACAF Champions League.

D.C. United traveled to Honduras and went down 2-0 to CD Marathon for their second loss in as many games in the group stage of the competition. Meanwhile, the Houston Dynamo managed a scoreless tie in Panama City against San Francisco FC in their first group stage game (their first scheduled Champions League game was postponed due to Hurricane Ike). While the Dynamo managed a point, United is off to a very poor start and in danger of wrecking their campaign if things don’t turn around quickly.

As this competition continues, it’s worth looking at the past history of U.S. teams in the Champions League. Only D.C. and the L.A. Galaxy have reached the finals (L.A. twice), and both have a title to their name. But 2000 was the last time that a U.S. team made it (L.A.’s title year), as Mexican and Costa Rican clubs have dominated in recent years......Read the rest at:

http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d25-More-MLS-Champions-League-struggles 

Also, I feel it must be mentioned that the brightest star in Carling Cup competition last night had to be Arsenal, and among that group 19-year-old talent Carlos Vela from Mexico was spectacular with a hat trick as the Gunners absolutely throttled Sheffield United by a score of 6-0 at The Emirates.

Check out all the goals right here. My favorites are Vela’s first one – a smartly curled ball with the left foot into the left corner of the net while running into the box from the right of the goal, and the youngster’s second – a sublimely controlled pass followed by a perfectly executed chip over the keeper that showed not even the slightest hint of nerves......

Read the rest at:  

http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d24-A-youthful-display-from-the-Gunners

Any other night, Cristiano Ronaldo’s first start and goal of the season would have stolen the headlines. But in United’s 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough in the third round of the Carling Cup. But it was a downright ugly play (middle of the clip) that stole the show in this one, as Emmanuel Pogatetz went down in a hideous, studs-up challenge on Rodrigo Possebon that earned Pogatetz a red card and sent Possebon to the hospital. Thankfully the news today is that he is OK, but Pogatetz deserves much criticism for such a reckless action. Initially it was believed that the young Brazilian player might have broken his leg, and thoughts had to turn back to Eduardo da Silva’s horrific injury last season on a tackle..... Check out the rest at:

http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d24-A-scary-moment-at-Old-Trafford 

There was an interesting article in The Guardian a day or two ago. For any of you who saw the Manchester United/Chelsea game on Sunday, referee Mike Riley got an earful all game long and dealt out a sea of yellow cards against the Reds, including several for dissent.

Some might argue that the plethora of cards in part came from the extremely tight game that Riley called right from the start, but the issue at hand here is whether the campaign started this season to respect referees (which was backed by each Premier League team) is already struggling.

Whether it was a cocky wave of the finger from Cristiano Ronaldo or Rio Ferdinand ending the match by berating Riley, there was certainly little respect in this game. And to be honest, perhaps it will take several games like this one for players to finally shut up and realize that accumulating a yellow card simply isn’t worth their time. To draw a comparison to the U.S., a couple years ago the NBA started the season with extremely strict rules about talking to officials. The result was an early-season wave of technical fouls, but perhaps it did help a little bit in the long run.......

http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d24-The-wave-of-yellow-cards 

In a way, this one ended as it should.

Manchester United needed at least a point following last week’s loss at Anfield, and they got it with the 1-1 draw. Chelsea, on the other hand, controlled the game from midway through the first half to the end and certainly deserved their point to keep the incredible 85-game unbeaten home record.

In a game with two heavyweights and plenty of pace and space throughout, the final score was in a way disappointing because of the neutral result and at the same time not all that surprising.

For United, it still leaves them with questions as they try to battle out of this early season funk that engulfed them last year, as well......

Check out the rest at: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d21-Chelsea-and-Man-United-battle-to-a-11-draw 

When you look at Arsenal’s 3-1 away victory against Bolton on Saturday afternoon, there’s no doubt that the Gunners play beautiful team football.

Whether it was a perfectly timed run inside his defender by Nicklas Bendtner (who needs to ease up on the hair gel) to latch onto a nicely placed cross from Denilson, or a pace-filled run by Theo Walcott to set up the spacing on the right and left for Denilson’s own finish in the 87th, their style is pleasing to the eye and refreshing to those who appreciate the accentuation of the whole over the individual.

This 3-1 result came handily, interrupted only by the opening strike from Kevin Davies on a header – the type of goal that leaves fans looking to the heavens for a reason for such madness, as it came at a point when Arsenal was utterly dominating possession (132-19 on completed passes if I remember right).....Check out the rest at:

 http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d20-Can-Arsenal-be-too-selfless