Recently in EPL Category

Barcelona. Chelsea. AC Milan. And Burnley.

Add the humble Lancashire team to this summer's packed international soccer calendar

Newly-promoted EPL team Burnley, a founding member of the English Football League in 1888, will play in Ventura as part of a two-game U.S. tour July 21 against PDL team the Ventura County Fusion.

Tickets are a modest $10 for adults in advance.

Details here.

After months of rumors, the deal is done and Cristiano Ronaldo will now do his pouting, um, playing in Spain with Kaka.

Well, that was a bit of an anticlimax for Chivas USA.

It was also a game that featured, said Chivas USA Coach Preki, "the dumbest goal ever."

See for yourself:

Mexico made heavy work of Trinidad & Tobago Wednesday, but are back (sort of) on track in WCQ. Lovely second goal though.

Finally, while we're on the subject of international football, it looks like a kid on his way to Cal State Northridge this fall is taking an unexpected detour.

Why is this a big deal?

Because for the last few years the annual finale to the English football season has been aired here live exclusively on pay per view.

So that has meant crawling out of bed at 6:30 a.m. or so for the dubious honor of paying $24.95 to watch the game at home. Or heading to a British pub, paying a $10-$20 cover charge, and then having some inebriated Brit screaming in your ear by half time "Come on you (pick the team)." Or waiting until the next day to see it free and hope you manage to avoid seeing the result (an increasingly iffy idea these days).

I don't know about you, but those prospects in what I like to call my reclining years has proved less and less alluring. That's prompted me to skip the game entirely in recent years.

But this Saturday, as a result (I believe) of Fox's new deal with the English FA the game between Chelsea and Everton will be seen live at 6:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

With U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard between the posts for Everton and Chelsea scheduled to play in Pasadena this summer, there's plenty to keep Southern Californian soccer fans interested.

For a primer on the historic game click here.

For a preview of this year's game click here.

Enjoy.

After raising a pint (or two) at 12 microbreweries, reconnecting with friends in Oregon and Washington, seeing two road Galaxy games and visiting two national parks in seven states over the last 12 days while clocking up 3,185 miles, I returned to Los Angeles late Friday night.

But a co-worker and fellow soccer fan will not be there when I get back to the office next week. Vu Nguyen, who sits at the desk adjacent to mine and was just 34-years-old, died Friday night in hospital:

"Nguyen kicked two goals while playing a soccer game with friends Sunday in a Santa Monica park and collapsed as he ran with his arms outstretched like an airplane down the field."

Wherever you are now, Vu, I'm sure you are still scoring and soaring.

So, while the Sol won Friday, Manchester United clinched the EPL title today and the two best teams in MLS play at Home Depot Center tonight, I'm keeping things in perspective.

Tonight is my wife's birthday, so I'm going to play hooky from soccer today and spend time with her instead.

I'll blog at noon Sunday from the Galaxy game against Columbus at the HDC.

Until then, slow down, take care and spend time with someone you love.

It's not often an e-mail with word of a major announcement lands in my in box at 2:15 a.m., but that's the way MLS chose to announce the opponent today for the annual game set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday July 29 in Salt Lake City (live on ESPN2 and Telefutura).

Everton, of course, boast U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard between the posts and are FA Cup finalists this year.

Regular readers will know I'm no fan of the All-Star Game, but with the format changed to playing against a foreign team at least MLS no longer has to find 22 (plus subs) worthy all-stars and no longer is the game scheduled to gobble up a precious weekend.

Plus, playing foreign teams who are (generally) in pre-season has proved something of an advantage for MLS; the MLS All-Stars have won all five previous meetings against international opponents, outscoring them 13-4.

And it's certainly been a more authentic brand of soccer than watching, for instance, the Eastern Conference All-Stars battle to a 6-6 draw against their Western Conference counterparts as we did in 2001.

Apparently you must like British teams though; MLS has played teams from the U.K. the last four years in a row.

I've been rather busy this week with a couple of projects and haven't been able to blog much. That will be true again today, but it's another busy soccer weekend with both the Galaxy and Chivas USA playing on Saturday and Sunday in Carson respectively so here's a preview of what's on tap.

Stomach-churning MLS.

The (0-0-1) Galaxy play Colorado at 7:30 p.m. (live on the radio at AM 570 or 1330, but delayed until 10 p.m. on Prime). Leonard Griffin and Todd Dunivant are out, while striker Edson Buddle (right quadriceps strain) and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts (right groin strain) are listed as questionable and midfielder Eddie Lewis (left hamstring strain) is listed as probable. For the Rapids, forward Conor Casey is listed as probable with a right foot strain.

I'm guessing Lewis will see some time, while Ricketts is still out:

"I don't want to rush (back) because it's a long season," Ricketts told me earlier in the week. "The physio is a nice guy, but I don't want to see him (all the time)."

It's the first of two games in four days against the Rapids for the Galaxy; the two teams also meet next week at Home Depot at 8 p.m. Tuesday in a U.S. Open Cup game.

As for 2-0 Chivas USA, who play at 5 p.m. Sunday in Carson, (though the game is delayed until 8:30 p.m. on Prime) here's their official injury list -

OUT: DF Bobby Burling (sports hernia surgery); GK Dan Kennedy (R knee sprain); FW Ante Razov (R ankle surgery); DF Claudio Suárez (L calf strain); DF Lawson Vaughn (L ankle surgery); MF Sasha Victorine (L knee surgery).

DOUBTFUL: FW Alecko Eskandarian (L hip strain); DF Ante Jazic (concussion).

PROBABLE: FW Michael Lahoud (concussion).

I'm sure they will have added to it by the end of practice today (ahem).

Updated 2:30 p.m. You knew this was coming - Justin Braun took a knock to his knee in practice Wednesday and could be out up to two weeks. Striker Maykel Galindo is also unlikely to play Sunday. Eskandarian did practice today, however.

Chivas do have a stomach-turning deal: the $25 "all you can eat" ticket debuts this weekend.

From the (edited) press release:

"Seats for the 'All You Can Eat' Pack are located in the South-East Corner section of Home Depot Center. Tickets are based on availability, so fans should call today to reserve their spot. The deal includes unlimited hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and soda for just $25."

As someone who had the misfortune to try the incredibly expensive stadium food at the Sol game last weekend, only those with extremely strong stomachs should apply. The churros are (still) cardboard and the nachos inedible (and probably indigestible). I say let's make the AEG executives chow down on this stuff - it's the only way they'll improve the food.

Eskandarian may not play soccer Sunday, but he will take part in a charity poker game tonight at the Torrance Marriott (there are still places open if you want the opportunity to test your poker skills against Alecko). Details here.

And here's a little Q&A I conducted with Eskandarian via e-mail:

Question; How long have you played poker?
Answer: I've played poker since I was a kid. And then Texas Hold-'em, I probably started playing about five years ago, kind of when it started out on ESPN. When I was with DC United we started playing on the road and I fell in love with it. I play on-line a lot.

Q: Any other poker players on the team?
A: There were last year, we had some rookies that played. We had three team tournaments - I won all three so I'm going to brag about that right now. We had probably eight or nine guys each time.

Q: Who do you like to play against?
A: Definitely (now Galaxy midfielder) Dema Kovalenko - he's the most fun to play against. He hates to lose more than anyone I ever met and he wins a lot, but it's priceless when you beat him because his reactions are absolutely hilarious.

Q: Who are the best and worst players on the Chivas USA squad?
A: I'd say me, since I've won three (tournaments) in a row. "Dead money" (Jesse) Marsch is pretty good; (goalkeeper) Lance (Parker) is pretty good. (Head Athletic trainer) Josh (Beaumont) is by far the worst (well,) it's probably a tie between him and (rookie) Mike Lahoud.

Q: Got a lucky hand (pre-flop)?
A: The Jack-seven has always been kind to me. I've no idea why, but it always seems to work out.

Mind-numbing EPL

The English Premier League (and others around the world) crank up again this weekend after World Cup qualifying.

Newcastle plays at Chelsea at 7 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel (Fulham-Liverpool follows at 9:30 a.m.).

Chelsea sit third, four points behind leaders Manchester United (who also have a game in hand) and last week I asked Chelsea head honcho Peter Kenyon if he still felt the Londoners still had a chance to win the league:

"We've not written it off, that's for sure. It's wide open again after (the week before) last. We're also in the quarter finals of Champions League and again play Liverpool for the fifth time and we're in the semifinal of the F.A. Cup so the season is still all to play for and it's very exciting times."

BTW, I also asked him if he believed the domination of the EPL by the Red Devils, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal (who again are the top four) means the competition is getting more than a little predictable and whether English teams will soon rule European football too (given what teams are left in the ECL):

"I don't think it is getting too predictable. There are probably three teams that dominate Italy, there are two teams that dominate Spain, there is arguably one team that dominates Germany.

"I think it's very easy to say English football is getting too dominant, I don't subscribe to that. I think what we have with the English Premier League is we have the most competitive league. There is no other league I think that the top clubs can play the bottom clubs and a bottom club can win. When you're in it every week it doesn't feel like you're running away with it.

"I think we've seen the likes of Aston Villa, Everton mount a challenge for that fourth place so it's a very competitive, very exciting place to be involved with football. I don't think we're any more dominant than other teams across Europe.

"What I do think we've got is we've got a far more competitive 39-game season. At any one time there's three competitions: there's a competition as to who's going to win it; there's a competition for European places and there's a massive competition for stopping relegation. And if you look at top or bottom this season it's probably the most competitive that the league's been."

Hmmm, he could have just said yes.

I'll blog from the games this weekend.

Saturday:

7 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Blackburn Rovers-Brad Friedel's Aston Villa

9:30 a.m. FSC Portsmouth-Liverpool

11:30 a.m. FSC AC Milan (and David Beckham)-Reggina

5 p.m. KVEA Chivas-Necaxa

Sunday

8 a.m. FSC West Ham United-Manchester United

8 a.m. GOLTV Landon Donovan's Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund

2 p.m. KMEX Club America-Pachuca

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan could make his Bayern Munich Bundesliga debut against Hamburger SV today in a game that will be televised live at 11:30 a.m. on GOLTV.

In other televised games this weekend it's:

*Brad Friedel's surging Aston Villa taking on Wigan at 7 a.m. Saturday on Fox Soccer Channel followed at 9:30 a.m. by Everton's visit to Manchester United.

*The pick of the Mexican games Saturday sees Chivas face Monterrey at 3 p.m. on KVEA, while at 5 p.m. Club America visits Morelia on KAZA.

*On Sunday, Chelsea and Liverpool clash at 8 a.m. on FSC, while at 11:30 a.m. David Beckham (if he recovers from a slight muscle strain) and AC Milan play at Lazio on the same channel.

*Finally, Argentina's Boca Juniors and River Plate play at 4 p.m. Sunday on FSC in what is usually one of the biggest games of the year in that nation.

Enjoy your weekend.

Here's your chance. USL expansion team Austin Aztex, which is under the same ownership as newly-promoted EPL team Stoke City, will hold open tryouts in Oxnard in January. Be quick, because registration closes Friday.

Aztex Coach Adrian Heath, a former player with Everton and Stoke City, is the coach of the Aztex and explained why the team is coming to Southern California to scout for players:

"From our point of view it's simpler us going there than trying to get 20-30 players over to Austin. We know it's a hotbed of talent over there in California, it's one of the hotbeds of talent in terms of football. We think we can look around and get some good players.

"The owner and myself are both Stoke people and we're both born there ... obviously we've got a very, very close relationship with them - and they'll be coming over to see us in the preseason to play an exhibition game. So if we see a player that's got the talent and has the mindset of going over to Europe, this would be a real advantage.

If we were to get two or three (players) from the tryouts over there and a similar number from the tryouts in Austin in February, that's six players for your roster and we'd be very very pleased with it. You don't really know beforehand so it would be a pleasant surprise to get that sort of number.

We've (also) got a relationship now with (Mexican club) Monterrey. If that's the road (a player) would like to go it would be a good opportunity for them. We've got very, very close links with Monterrey. Maybe for Hispanic players if they want to start their career in soccer this would be a perfect opportunity for them and if we felt they were good enough we could let them go down to Monterrey and let them have a look as well."

Register here.

These days it seems random lists pass for journalism.

And they are popular.

World: Meet Mr. Beckham.

It isn't, at least not yet, as this Associated Press story points out.

As soccer's popularity grows in the U.S. we'll see a similar situation here - the would-be owners of MLS clubs willing to plunk down a $40 million expansion fee are counting on it. And of course, this story doesn't mention it, but ESPN has long been rumored to be interested in securing the rights to EPL games in the U.S.

GENEVA (AP) If one sport can survive the global financial crisis, it's the world's favorite game: soccer.

Yes, individual clubs will certainly suffer - some losing sponsors or investors and perhaps players who become too pricey. But cash flowing into the top end of the market, from television deals and multinational backers, is unlikely to dry up.

If anything, soccer at its highest level is poised to become an even stronger TV draw in
hard times when people want cheap entertainment.

Look at the numbers.

The 2010 World Cup is already sold, and FIFA expects to bank $3.2 billion before
kickoff.

UEFA earned a net profit approaching $400 million from this year's European
Championship, and the Champions League will pull in $1.115 billion this season.

Also, television deals for the 2009-12 Champions League seasons are already done in
the main markets, where prices are reportedly up 10 percent, and rights to show the
English Premier League - where huge revenues help explain overseas interest in clubs
- will soon be sold for the 2010-13 seasons.

Industry experts believe the domestic deal for Britain will beat the current 3-year cost of
$2.94 billion paid by subscription broadcasters Sky and Setanta. Global television and
new media rights will earn English league clubs another $1.73 billion in that time.

Philipp Grothe has traded football media rights for two decades. Last week, his
Swiss-based Kentaro agency struck a six-year deal with the U.S. Soccer Federation to
distribute national team matches.

He believes that when money is tight, football is a reliable commodity.

"Only the big live events in sport, i.e. football, generate the mass audience," Grothe said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "They are the ones delivering to
sponsors and broadcasters the big audience numbers."

The World Cup is one of the globe's most-watched sporting events, and FIFA claims the
2006 tournament in Germany had an accumulated television audience of 26.3 billion
viewers on 376 different channels.

FIFA, which relies on the World Cup for 90 percent of its revenue, has budgeted to get
$3.2 billion from television and marketing rights to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

"FIFA believes that this is a realistic forecast," FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozola said in
an e-mail. "Certain contracts are secured with bank guarantees. All TV partners have
fulfilled their contractual obligations."

The Zurich-based body has six commercial partners for the World Cup.

One, Coca-Cola, is signed until 2022. The Emirates airline paid $195 million to sign through the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

UEFA, which declined to discuss marketing strategy, had revenue of roughly $2 billion for its three-week tournament in Austria and Switzerland, but has not started selling Euro 2012, scheduled for Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA's club football commitments seem solidly grounded. It has signed four commercial partners - Ford, Heineken, MasterCard and Sony - out of six intended for the 2009-12 Champions League seasons.

The competition's playing format has been copied around the world, though not its riches.

European champion Manchester United earned $67 million in prize money and television shares last season.

Critics say the Champions League has created a self-perpetuating elite, leaving other
clubs unable to bridge the gap. UEFA president Michel Platini, however, wants the power to ban indebted clubs from the competition.

His words were widely interpreted as an attack on the English teams that now dominate
the Champions League.

Chelsea, last season's runner-up, owes more than $1 billion, though its interest-free loans from Russian owner Roman Abramovich are not yet vulnerable.

Manchester United, valued at $1.8 billion by Forbes Magazine, has big debts, but it also
has a global brand.

When shirt sponsor AIG received a bailout from the U.S. government last month, there
was speculation the insurance firm might pull out of its 4-year, nearly $100 million deal.

That might seem like a financial nightmare, but Grothe said it would be a win-win scenario for the club.

"Man United would get a hefty signoff fee to release (AIG) and the day after they could
close a deal which is even bigger," he said.

An important test of soccer's prospects will come next month, when domestic television
rights are offered in Germany to broadcast the Bundesliga.

Public broadcaster ARD and subscription service Premiere are favored to win the deal,
with the price is expected to be more than $544 million a season.

Apologies: the blogging software has been down for hours, only just came back up and I have other things to do.

So very briefly:
*The Galaxy play another must-win game against Chicago at 6 tonight on ESPN2.

*Former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan played - and lost - his first game with Aston Villa Wednesday night.

*The Cal State Dominguez Hills men are eyeing another championship.

Toros midfielder Scott Mariano started 14 games last year.

Photo by Scott Varley

Here's your live soccer and television viewing guide for the weekend.

The Galaxy (6-10-8) look for their first victory in 12 games at 8 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (live on Fox Soccer Channel) against D.C. United (10-11-3), while Chivas USA (8-10-6) are on the road in Salt Lake (live at 6 p.m. on KAZA or delayed until 8 p.m. on FSN) and will look to leapfrog their opponents in the standings and haul themselves back into an automatic playoff spot.

Incidentally, veteran defensive leader Jesse Marsch has had his jaw unwired and could play for the first time since breaking it Sept. 14 against the Galaxy.

Other televised games include:
*Manchester United-Chelsea at 6 a.m. Sunday (Fox Soccer Channel) in the undoubted game of the weekend. Incidentally, this is so big so early in the season, the BBC unearthed former Galaxy and Chelsea Coach Ruud Gullit to offer his wisdom on the game. Among Gullit's insights regarding Luiz Felipe Scolari taking over at Chelsea:

"A coach must adjust to the players he has and, at a club like Chelsea, get results," he says.

*7 a.m. Saturday FSC - Managerless Newcastle United face West Ham.
*9:30 a.m. Saturday FSC - Arsenal-Bolton Wanderers.
*5 p.m. KVEA - Jaguares-CD Guadalajara.

College soccer offerings locally this weekend include:
*The UCLA Women's Cup begins today with No. 2 UCLA (5-0-1) taking on Miami (7-0) at 5:00 p.m at Drake Stadium, followed at 7:30 p.m. by No. 24 USD (5-2) against New Mexico (3-1-3). On Sunday it's USD versus Miami at 11:00 a.m., and UCLA against New Mexico at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 adults, $5 youths/UCLA students. The Bruins slipped to No. 2 in the rankings after their scoreless draw with Brown last weekend.
*The UCLA men (1-3-1) hosts Santa Clara (1-3-1) 7 p.m. Saturday at Drake Stadium in a rematch of last season's NCAA second round playoff match, which Santa Clara won 3-1.
*The No. 4 Trojans (6-1-0) begin a six-game home stand at McCalister Field 1 p.m. Sunday hosting SMU (1-4-1).

What is undoubtedly the world's richest soccer league, arguably the best soccer league, (let's here it from the Serie A and La Liga fans now) but certainly the most-widely watched soccer league in the world begins in a few short hours: the English Premier League.

What's the connection to soccer in Los Angeles? (Apart from former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan being Brad Friedel's backup at Aston Villa).

Ever-increasing numbers of Angelenos will groggily arise from their slumber (well, those without TiVo anyway) to watch ever-increasing numbers of Americans ply their trade in England beginning this weekend.

Even given the fact only four teams (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool) have a chance of winning the league, the EPL remains a compelling spectacle.

On Fox Soccer Channel this weekend:

Saturday
7 a.m. Everton vs. Blackburn
9:30 a.m. Sunderland vs. Liverpool
11:30 a.m. West Ham vs. Wigan

Sunday
8 a.m. Manchester Utd. vs. Newcastle
10 a.m. Aston Villa vs. Manchester City

Here's a capsule look (from the Associated Press) at the 20 EPL teams ahead of Saturday's openers.

ARSENAL
Nickname: Gunners.
Stadium: Emirates Stadium (capacity 60,000).
Manager: Arsene Wenger (since September 1996).
Honors: English champion 12 times (last 2004), FA Cup champion (10 times), League Cup
twice, Cup Winners Cup once (1994), European Fairs Cup once (1970).
Last season: third.
New players: Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Amaury Bischoff (Werder Bremen).
Departed players: Jens Lehmann (Stuttgart), Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan), Alexander Hleb
(Barcelona), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos).
Prospects: Third again, but a reliance on youth could mean a fourth straight season without a trophy.

ASTON VILLA
Nickname: Villans.
Stadium: Villa Park (39,000).
Manager: Martin O'Neill (since August 2006).
Honors: English champion seven times (last in 1981), FA Cup seven times (last in 1957), League Cup five times (last in 1996), European champion (1982), world club champion (1982), European Super Cup (1983).
Last season: sixth.
New players: Curtis Davies (West Bromwich Albion), Steve Sidwell (Chelsea), Brad Friedel (Blackburn), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Nicky Shorey (Reading), Luke Young (Middlesbrough).
Departed players: Luke Moore (West Bromwich Albion), Patrik Berger (Sparta Prague), Olof Mellberg (Juventus), Erik Lund (Goteborg).
Prospects: Top eight again but no nearer top four.

BLACKBURN ROVERS