USA Summer '12: Friendlies Will Be Forced Down Your Throat

Since the season is basically over - especially for fans like me backing sub-par teams (Roma, your 2011-12 campaign is dead to me) - here's a running list of hot summer friendlies around the USA I've noticed over the past couple of weeks:

Philadelphia Union vs. Schalke 04
May 9 @ 7:30pm (ET)
PPL Park, Chester, PA

Portland Timbers vs. Valencia
May 23 @ 7pm (PT)
JELD-WEN Field, Portland, OR

Houstan Dynamo vs. Valencia
May 31, 7:30pm (local time?)
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, TX

Philadelphia Union vs. Aston Villa
July 18 @ 7:30pm (ET)
PPL Park, Chester, PA

Seattle Sounders vs. Chelsea
July 18 @ 9:30pm (ET)
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA

Toronto FC vs. Liverpool
July 21 @ 4pm (ET)
Rogers Centre, Toronto, ONT

Chicago Fire vs. Aston Villa
July 21 @ 7:30pm (CT)
Toyota Park, Chicago, IL 

Chelsea vs. PSG
July 22 @ 7pm (ET)
Yankee Stadium, New York City

AS Roma vs. TBD
July 22 @ TBD
Chicago, IL

Portland Timbers vs. Aston Villa
July 24 @ 7:30pm (PT)
JELD-WEN Field, Portland, OR

LA Galaxy vs. Tottenham
July 24 @ TBD
The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA 

AS Roma vs. Liverpool - The Underachiever's Shield 2012
July 25 @ 6:30pm (ET)
Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Chelsea vs. MLS All-Stars
July 25 @ 8:30pm (ET)
PPL Park, Chester, PA

AS Roma vs. TBD
July 28 @ TBD
New York City

Trophee Des Champions - France's Community Shield
League winner vs. Lyon (cup winner)
July 28 @ 3pm (ET)
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ

Liverpool vs. Tottenham
July 28 @ 1pm (ET)
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD

Chelsea vs. AC Milan
July 28 @ 6pm (ET)
Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL

DC United vs. Juventus
July 28 @ TBD
RFK Stadium, Washington, DC
*yet to be finalized 

New York Red Bulls vs. Tottenham
July 31 @ TBD
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ 

LA Galaxy vs. Real Madrid
August 2 @ 10:30pm (ET)
The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA 

Juventus vs. Real Madrid
August 5 @ 8pm (local time?)
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
*possible rematch on August 8 @ Yankee Stadium, New York City 

That's all I have for now. I will update this list when I hear further dates have been announced. Please comment below on other games I failed to mention!

Daily Buzz - August 18

News and rumor(s), brought to you by the World Wide Web:

Romelu Lukaku finally signs for Chelsea
The promising Belgian youngster finally sealed his dream move to Chelsea, signing for €25m. The forward will be available for the Blues on the weekend.

American Thomas DiBenedetto finally takes over AS Roma
Though he was technically in charge throughout much of the summer, the final papers have been signed, making Thomas DiBenedetto and his consortium majority owners of Roma. Now if he could introduce the signings of Osvaldo and Kjaer as act one, that would be something.

Welcome: enjoy your first defeat to Slovan wherever the hell - today!

Bocanegra joins Rangers
USA skipper Carlos Bocanegra has left French side St. Etienne and landed in Scotland with the Glasgow Rangers. He joins his American patriots Mo Edu and Ale Bedoya in the side.

Diego Forlan to Inter?
I resisted putting this hot-rumor up but I keep hearing little birdies whispering about it. Word is Forlan's agent is in Milan today for a meeting. Forlan to Inter, Sneijder to United?!

Champs League Q-Finals: High-Time For a Hero, No Time For Mistakes

It is nitty-gritty time in the UEFA Champions League. At this stage, minor gaffes and blunders could cost a team the chance to vie for the final. As we approach the crucial quarter-final matches of the tournament this week, I thought I would remind you of who's playing who, and lend my expert opinion on who will win:

Inter Milan vs. Schalke 04
Inter comes into the first leg of this match after being demolished by Milan in the Derby della Madonnina. Though morale might be low, the form of the holders is still on the rise. They have clawed their way back towards the top of the Serie A table, after a dismal start to the season, and will be ready as ever for a reaction against Schalke.

Schalke on the other hand, have been spotty all year round. They currently lie in 11th place and have recently fired their coach, which is strange for a UCL quarter-finalist. That said, they've been brilliant in Champions League play. Raul has been a real leader on the pitch and contributions from crafty Peruvian Jeffrey Farfan have created a beacon of hope for the struggling Bundesliga side.

Prediction: Inter will win this tie...their record against German opposition has been tremendous. But please note, I have been wrong about every prediction involving Schalke this season.

Real Madrid vs. Tottenham Hotspur
The Spurs run through Europe is subject to a major obstacle in Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid. Tottenham gaffer Harry Redknapp has guided his side through some difficult challenges thus far, but a quarter-final date with Madrid is the toughest yet.

Each team has a few notables missing: Karim Benzema for the Merengues (Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo are in the squad but doubtful) and Steven Pienaar for Tottenham (William Gallas is in the squad but doubtful). Welshman Gareth Bale most likely will feature and it appears that Gonzalo Higuain is back from a long injury layoff.

Prediction: Real Madrid will take the tie...Tottenham has ridden luck for far too long in such a high-caliber competition.

Manchester United vs. Chelsea

Two English powerhouses square off in what should be an entertaining quarter-final. Chelsea continue to falter in Premier League play while Manchester United remain on course to lift the title. At this moment, I do not think Chelsea has the form to overcome a sturdy side in United. Perhaps Fernando Torres will choose this vital moment to bag his first goal for the Blues?

Prediction: Manchester United will run away with this one...Chelsea are under-performing in the EPL and will most likely carry their poor form with them to the tournament.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona
Prediction: No description necessary - Barcelona will dominate this tie and waltz into the semi-finals. Shakhtar got lucky with their draw against dreadful AS Roma, but that luck has run out. This one was over at the drawing.

Well, what do you think?

Monday Moron: Big Shot Ashley Cole

Yellow? Shooting someone warrants red!

Ashley Cole allegedly shot an intern with an air rifle at Chelsea's training ground on Saturday. Apparently, the lowly lad didn't get Cole his water fast enough. The big question: what was he doing with an air rifle at training?! The clear answer: Ashley Cole is a moron.

Cole, similarly to Christian Chivu, is a defender Sensible Soccer despises. Not only does he whine, complain, and have a girl's name, he was dumb enough to bring a pellet gun to training and shoot someone with it! Nice job, moron. I wish Landon Donovan was around to break your leg again.

In other news, we have a laundry list of exciting fixtures during the week:

AC Milan vs. Napoli 
Today at 2:45pm EST

Chelsea vs. Manchester United 
Tomorrow at 2:45pm EST

Manchester City vs. Aston Villa - FA Cup
Wednesday at 2:45pm EST

Valencia vs. Barcelona
Wednesday at 4pm EST

Enjoy and practice good gun safety!

D-Day Roundup: England Transfer Record Smashed To Dust

On the much awaited winter deadline day, the England transfer record was smashed to dust, loosely built up again, then smashed to an even finer dust. Overall, around £215 million was spent throughout this January's window (up from £160 million last year), and about £120 million was shelled out on a frantic last day in England. It is fact that yesterday's transfers in England eclipsed the spending of all the leagues in the world combined during this window. Absolute insanity.

Lets review some big moves, shall we:

Andy Carroll Newcastle to Liverpool for £35m 

Fernando Torres Liverpool to Chelsea £50m 

A player in a car signifies an imminent transfer. Finally, Soccernet got something right when they posted these pictures yesterday at midday.

I certainly did not see either of these moves coming. I figured Torres would sulk his way through one last season at Anfield before being thrown to the wolves in the summer window. And Carroll? Who would have thought newly promoted Newcastle would sell their star in the middle of a quasi-successful campaign? Not only that, but Newcastle failed to use the funds made available by the sale of Carroll to buy a replacement, and now have to face the rest of the season minus a striker, let alone their best. The tragedy of this transfer is that Carroll did not even want to leave his hometown club. 

These were the biggest moves of the transfer window. Chelsea set a domino effect through the league by bidding £50m for Torres, which in turn spurred Toon management to sell their homegrown talent at an inflated rate. Staggeringly, Torres wasn't Chelsea's only big signing of the day, as they shored up their back-line by finally acquiring David Luiz from Benfica for £21.3m. Chelsea spent £71.3m in one day. Let that fact sink in and simmer. All in all, the events in England yesterday were shocking, even to popular pundits.

Other big signings throughout the January window:

Edin Dzeko Wolfsburg to Manchester City £32m

I was spot on in my earlier transfer-related post about the big man from the Bundesliga side, Wolfsburg. Adebayor made way and Dzeko is now donning the #10 for the Citizens. His contributions thus far have been meager, but Edin scored his first goal last week, a late equalizer which saved City blushes to force an FA Cup replay with Notts County.

Darren Bent Sunderland to Aston Villa £24m

The striker, who has an astonishing EPL goal tally (84 goals in 192 appearances), was a great signing for Villa and good bank for Steve Bruce's Sunderland. Bent even scored in his debut at Villa Park. The only thing he may regret is his horrible number selection, 39.

Luis Suarez Ajax to Liverpool £22.8m

Lets not allow the huge sale of Torres and gross fee for Carroll overshadow the excellent deal Liverpool struck last week with Ajax for Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez. Exceptional player, exceptional signing. He's young, versatile and ready to run at English back-lines. I think the Kop will be hurling praise at a new Spanish speaking fellow by the end of this year.

David Luiz Benfica to Chelsea £21.3m
Chelsea capped off a successful window by getting talented center back David Luiz from Benfica. This player was an absolute must for the side.

Emmanuel Adebayor Manchester City to Real Madrid (on loan)

Want-away striker Emmanuel Adebayor got his wish when City loaned him out to Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid. Los Blancos were in desperate need of a striker after learning of Gonzalo Higuain's long injury layoff. Perhaps Mourinho will be the coach who gets the most out of the troubled striker.

Giampaolo Pazzini Sampdoria to Inter Milan €19m (€12 + €7 Biabiany)

Inter are big winners in this transfer window with the acquisition of Giampaolo Pazzini from Sampdoria. For a full description of Pazzo's move and impact this past Sunday, see my last post.

The best of the rest:
Antonio Cassano Sampdoria to AC Milan (Undisclosed)
Luiz Gustavo Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich €17m 

Ryan Babel Liverpool to Hoffenheim €7m
Elias Corinthians to Atletico Madrid €7m
Ibrahim Affelay PSV to Barcelona €3m
Ivan Rakitic Schalke 04 to Sevilla €2.5m
Daniel Sturridge Chelsea to Bolton (on loan)
Yuto Nagatomo Cesena to Inter Milan (on loan) told you so
Obafemi Martins Rubin Kazan to Birmingham City (on loan)
Michael Bradley Borussia Monchengladbach to Aston Villa (on loan)

It seems I could blog for days about this transfer window. But, what's the point? The whole football community is talking about the same thing. To fill in the blanks, check out goal.com's rundown of the window here and please view the final episode of Football Spy, which will give you a comprehensive roundup of who went where:



Best wishes from Sensible Soccer! Let's enjoy the rest of this season together.