Sturridge and Rodwell get first England call-ups

[melj1213.livejournal.com]

Fabio Capello has elevated Daniel Sturridge and Jack Rodwell into the senior England squad for the first time as the national manager seeks to experiment with a more youthful line-up in the forthcoming friendlies against Spain and Sweden.

The pair, who have been regulars in Stuart Pearce's Under-21 set-up, are among four uncapped players in Capello's party effectively now offered an opportunity to prove their worth ahead of Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine in Poland and Ukraine. Gabriel Agbonlahor's form at Aston Villa has earned him a recall for the games at Wembley while the current captain, John Terry, retains his place despite being the subject of separate Metropolitan Police and Football Association investigations into allegations that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand. Terry's Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard is expected to captain the side.

( Rest of the tl:dr article under here for those who *do* want to read it )

England squad

Goalkeepers: Hart (Manchester City), Carson (Bursaspor), Stockdale (Ipswich Town)
Defenders: G Johnson (Liverpool), Jones (Man Utd), Cahill (Bolton Wanderers), Terry, Cole (both Chelsea), Baines, Jagielka (both Everton), Lescott (Man City), Walker (Tottenham)
Midfielders: Lampard (Chelsea), Rodwell (Everton), Downing (Liverpool), Barry (Man City), A Johnson (Man City), Milner (Man City), Parker (Tottenham), Walcott (Arsenal)
Strikers: Bent (Aston Villa), Sturridge (Chelsea), Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Zamora (Fulham), Welbeck (Man Utd)

So, thoughts? Anyone should/shouldn't be there? Personally I was surprised by there being no Micah Richards on the list - what does he need to do to get a call up nowadays?

Dagger gets feisty and shares a few home truths about LFC

[melj1213.livejournal.com]

Daniel Agger delivered a withering assessment of Liverpool’s latest wasteful Anfield performance and has warned their Champions League ambitions will evaporate with further repeats.

The Denmark defender is usually economical with his words but he did not hold back following a 0-0 draw with Swansea, a result which means Liverpool have already squandered eight points on home territory from six games this season.

‘Sometimes we looked like headless chickens running around after the ball,’ said Agger, before cryptically adding: ‘I think everyone was angry and disappointed, some more than others, but that is the way it is.’

( Rest of article under cut )

So ONTD_FBers, do we agree with Dagger or not? Is his assessment of the season spot on or does his accuracy need a bit of work? TBH I only posted this in the hopes of fierce!Dagger spams, so feel free to include those in the comments! ;)

Spain NT Call Ups Announced

[melj1213.livejournal.com]

Vicente Del Bosque this morning announced the latest Spain squad that will encounter two upcoming friendlies against England, and Costa Rica. The main news from the announcement has been the call-up’s of both Nacho Monreal of Málaga and Jesús Navas of Sevilla, while Roberto Soldado remains absent.

Spain will play England on Saturday, 12th of Novemeber at Wembley, then face Costa Rica in San José three days later. The squad will gather upon the Ciudad del Fútbol on the 10th November at 10:30 to begin training.

( Full Squad List  )

Did You Hear? MLS is third highest attended sport in the US

[saraaa3.livejournal.com]

Getting The Boot: NBA Loses Its Spot As Third-Best-Attended U.S. Pro Sports League

Maybe LeBron James can play goalie?

While the National Basketball Association players and owners continue to bicker and bellyache about divvying up the cash pie, other sports leagues pass them by.

Major League Soccer doesn't get the buzz on sports radio or the blogs, but it has corner kicked its way past the NBA in average attendance, according to the news site Examiner.com. MLS attendance has gone up 6.6 percent this season, helping it become the new No. 3 sports league in the United States, based on per-game attendance.

( more.... )

And just in case you are not a Sounders fan, the write-up at SBNation has a few more reasons why (I will only partially quote, go to the link if you want the whole story)

It would be tempting to attribute much of this growth to the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps, the two well-attended expansion teams. While their combined average of 19,619 is certainly helping the bottom line, even taking them out of the equation leaves a pretty rosy picture.

Stripping out the two expansion markets still gives MLS an average attendance of 17,654, or about 1.2 percent more than the previous record. It also leaves MLS with a total draw of about 4.8 million or roughly 800,000 more than the previous record.The big non-expansion increase comes from Sporting Kansas City, which opened up the palace that is Livestrong Sporting Park. A year after playing in a minor-league baseball stadium that fit fewer than 11,000, the smallest home crowd to see one of their games was 14,791 and just five of their 17 games were played in front of crowds of fewer than 17,000.

( more..... )

As a Sounders fan, and MLS fan, I am stoked. BUT! Let's not dissolve into rivalries and just celebrate this moment. Reactions (optimistic, pessimistic, etc.)?

If I have missed any tags, it's because either the MLS club doesn't have a tag or wasn't mentioned. Though honestly, there are so many tags I might have missed one. Sorry in advance!

MLS reveals finalists for MVP and other year-end awards

[ecstatic-appeal.livejournal.com]

NEW YORK — Major League Soccer announced the finalists for its 2011 year-end awards on Monday.

The winners will be announced over the next 10 days during the lead up to the MLS Cup final on Nov. 20, beginning with Rookie of the Year and the Xbox Fair Play Individual & Team of the Year on Tuesday and culminating on Nov. 18 with the Volkswagen MVP and Commissioner’s Award.


( Read more... )

Not enough Birthday posts round here any more

[melj1213.livejournal.com]

Which two amazing footballers share an awesome birthday today?

                     

¡Feliz Cumpleaños por David De Gea & Happy Birthday to Rio Ferdinand!

Walking Tall.

[crouchea.livejournal.com]

Girlies, rank your team in order of height!


( Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. )

Any surprises for you? Got any thoughts on the ~ideal height for a footballer?

I definitely didn’t know Alex was as tall as that. No real surprises with the shorties, although it surprises me that our gaffer is in the bottom 9; I’ve always considered him tall enough to ~square up~ to any of our players if needs be. But I guess he can do that without being massively tall.

But yeah, Chelsea generally have quite a tall, hench squad (with the exceptions of those who are tall and scrawny), though we have our hobbits too! <3

Now you go, feel free to post photos for proof etc etc too!