Premier League Week in Review

The English Premier League has a long-standing tradition of having every team play a game on the 26^th of December, no matter what day of the week this is. This is no random date though, as the 26^th of December is an English holiday called Boxing Day. This date always provides a high television attendance rating as there is not many other sporting events across the world that takes place. This idea is similar to the NFL playing on Thanksgiving and the NBA playing on Christmas day. This year, there was not much of a game to look forward to though as the schedule did not necessarily provide any top quality soccer match. However, there were definitely some games that are worth re-watching. Some key fixtures and analysis follow:

Everton vs Wigan Athletic

Goodison Park played host to Wigan in front of nearly 39,000 supporters. The visitors had reason to fear coming into the game as Everton have untraditionally made a fast start to season; 30 points in only 18 games making them a resounding 5^th place. Wigan, meanwhile, sits near the foot of the table in the relegation zone at 18^th place with only 15 points from their 18 matches. The game did provide some entertainment was Everton claimed a 2-1 victory with strikes from Leon Osman in the 52^nd minute and Phil Jagielka in the 77^th minute, before Arouna Koné gave Wigan a lifeline in the 82^nd minute.

Everton's Phil Neville

This game marked a special occasion for Everton’s Phil Neville as he made his 500^th Premier League appearance (becoming only the seventh player to do so) and celebrated this day with a game winning assist. There were other special moments of the game such as when Shaun Maloney (Wigan) had thought he won a penalty but there was no whistle from Lee Mason, but none more so than when Everton came close to scoring after only 13 seconds when Victor Anichebe shot just wide off a Darron Gibson cross. More drama followed later in the game as Koné was denied by a superb block from Neville when the score line was still 1-0 Everton. Wigan continued to applied pressure after Koné eventually scored, but they could not find an equalizer as the Everton defense held tight.

Why this Game was Important?

Everton may very well be the surprise of the season if they continue in their current form. They are a legitimate challenge to the top 4 (meaning potential Champions League play in the near future) and have one of the revelations of the season in Maroune Fellaini. Everton need him to stay if they have a shot at cementing their top 4 status.

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Manchester United vs Newcastle

In front of 75,596 supporters at Old Trafford, Manchester United once again proved they are the comeback kings after defeating Newcastle 4-3 with an injury time winner from Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. Newcastle has not won at the Theatre of Dreams since 1972, but it seemed destined for the trend to snap as they took the lead on three different occasions. They opened the scoring in on the 4^th minute through a James Perch strike (granted De Gea should have done much better on the original shot from Demba Ba) before another rebound goal was scored on the opposite end by Johnny Evans in the 25^th minute. Evans would go on to double his tally; however his deflected effort crossed the wrong goal line to send Newcastle into a 2-1 lead after 30 minutes. Patrice Evra would level the scoring through a nifty shot in the 58^th minute before Newcastle once again took the lead through Pappa Demba Cisse ten minutes later. Newcastle held this lead for only three minutes before Robin van Persie scored his 16^th of the season in the 71^st minute. The scoring cooled down for a while until the 90^th minute when Michael Carrick played a great pass over the defense for Chicharito to complete the comeback and give United the full 3 points.

Why this Game was Important?

Manchester United has had a bad habit of conceding many goals and finding themselves in losing positions. However, they are ‘mighty’ United and you can never count them out as this win (coupled with Manchester City’s surprising defeat to Sunderland) gave them a 7-point gap a top the table. This game shows that Manchester United need to bolster the defense in the January transfer window or Ferguson has got to work his magic with what he has got because he cannot rely on the Manchester United attack to continue to score at will.

Newcastle, on other hand, were a surprising story last year with how well they played before finishing the season in 5^th place. Pappa Demba Cisse was one of the players of the year and Demba Ba was not far behind. Newcastle, however, have dropped the ball this year in the Premier League sitting in 15^th place with only 20 points from their 19 outings. If only they could replicate their European form where they are currently in the Round of 32 in the Europa League.

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Norwich City vs Chelsea

Juan Mata scored the game winner for Chelsea late in the first half after a sweet shot from outside the box found the far post after a splitting pass from Oscar. This gives Mata his sixth goal in only 8 games, showing what an important piece he is to the Chelsea attack. This game was rather boring by comparison to most Premier League games as neither team could get hold of the game. There were few points of quality on exhibit as emphasized by two of David Luiz’s shots that were nowhere near being on target. Both teams continued to push and it was only a smart save from Bunn that kept Norwich in the game after Mata took a quick free kick.

Frank Lampard (one of the other seven to have made at least 500 appearances in the Premier League) made an appearance later in the game and helped to solidify the win for Chelsea. He has been the focal point of many transfer talks lately, but his last few performances have shown that Chelsea need him and especially so when John Obi Mikel leaves to take his place in the African Cup of Nations.

Why this Game was Important?

Chelsea now sit in 3^rd place with 35 points and have a game in hand over both United and City (1^st and 2^nd respectively) meaning that if Chelsea win that extra game, they will only be 1 point out of second and 8 behind United. 8 points sounds like a lot, but it was only last year that Manchester United dropped a 7-point lead in the standings to eventually finish in second place after Manchester City beat United on goal differential. Chelsea started the season in great form but hit a major slump leading to the sacking of club legend, Roberto Di Matteo. Ex-Liverpool boss, Rafael Benitez, was given the realms and has actually helped turn around Chelsea’s fortune and is partly credited with the increasing strike rate from Fernando Torres.

Norwich City, on the other hand, has also done fairly well for them being just out of the top half of the table in11th place. They have defeated both Arsenal and Manchester United with 1-0 score lines at Carrow Road this year, showing that they can come to play in their own stadium.

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Here are the other score lines from Boxing Day:

Fulham 1 – Southampton 1
(Berbatov 8^th min and Lambert 85^th min)

West Brom 2 – QPR 1
(Cisse 68^th and Brunt 29^th, Green Own Goal 49^th)

Reading 0 – Swansea 0

Aston Villa 0 – Tottenham 4
(Defoe 57^th, Bale 61^st, 73^rd and 84^th)

Stoke City 3 – Liverpool 1
(Jones 12^th, Walters 5^th,49^th and Gerrard 2^nd)

Arsenal and West Ham postponed

American soccer is likely at its high point of popularity in the United States due to a new generation of adults who grew up playing the sport as children, an increase in foreign matches being shown on television, an improvement in the National Teams (especially the Olympic Champion Women), and an influx of foreign stars coming to play soccer in the MLS.  However, 2013 will be an important year for American soccer as countless big stories are set to emerge, and the nation will have to adapt to the changing global nature of the sport itself.  Here are some of the big stories ahead for American soccer in 2013:

The Face of the MLS After David Beckham departs – The arrival of David Beckham was a monumental achievement for the MLS in 2007, showing the world that American soccer could compete for star players.  Winning two MLS Cup Championships in his time here, the Englishman paved the way for a whole host of other foreigners to come to the MLS, including Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry, Torsten Frings, Tim Cahill, and Robbie Keane.  The global landscape now sees the MLS as a viable option for mature superstars, and has greatly improved awareness and popularity in the league.  So where does the MLS head in 2013?

Rumors suggest that Frank Lampard of Chelsea or Kaka of Real Madrid could be among the next soccer players to come to the MLS.  Now that America is at least a legitimate option for these types of players, the MLS should continue to harbor increased popularity.

I also would expect that more focus be placed upon the New York Red Bull with Henry and Cahill as team leaders.  The Red Bulls suffered a tragic end to the season in the playoffs as D.C. United benefitted from a recalled PK to snatch a win in the quarterfinals of the MLS Playoffs.  Since this was Cahill’s first MLS go and he just arrived in the summer, I would expect the pair to play better next season and lead the Red Bulls to glory.

Will the United States Men’s National Team Qualify for the 2014 World Cup? – The USA National team has largely struggled to impress under renowned manager Jurgen Klinsmann.  Although they won the last group of qualification, the matches were nervous, and qualification was only secured on the final day with a victory over Guatemala.  The United States had lost in Jamaica and drawn with Guatemala earlier in the group stage.

The qualification for Brazil will take on a tougher feeling now as America must qualify 3^rd to enter the World Cup directly, and finish 4^th in the North American group to enter a playoff match with a team from Oceania, likely to be Australia.  Facing teams like Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, and Panama, the United States will need to improve their game to qualify directly.  How the team performs in Brazil will be anyone’s guess, but just to get there looks like it will be a challenge.

America will need to get its best out of key men like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Tim Howard.  Additionally, the team will be looking for several of its youngsters to step up to the next level.  Guys like Jozy Altidore, Brek Shea, and Michael Bradley need to become dependable players for the USA to qualify with ease.  The team has a friendly against Canada at the end of January before the important games begin with Honduras on February 6^th.  The ten matches through October will surely test the country’s resolve and strength.  Let’s hope for a successful 2013 qualification and an even better 2014 when the World Cup takes place.