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!

Debutants Ball

As a fan, it feels good when a new signing scores in his debut. It almost makes one forget about the astronomical price tag of the modern player. It also brings hope to struggling teams and their faithful. In the Premier League last night, there were some very happy clubs and supporters beaming about their newest signings.

I present to you the debutants:

Luis Suarez Liverpool

Well...he rounded the keeper nicely!


Robbie Keane West Ham


Great take by Robbie (see 1m mark).


Daniel Sturridge Bolton


Nothing like a winner in added time on your home debut! Though Sturridge was gifted the goal, he stuck it home well (see end of highlight clip).

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.