The attack would look even better if we had Little in our midfield.

That was a fun day of soccer. Two pretty exciting games, and I'm satisfied with the Dortmund result.
- Gus Johnson really is obnoxious. Each time the ball would enter the penalty area or the goaltender touched the ball, Johnson's voice would rise to 11. Not a fan of his.
- Dortmund was definitely missing Gundogan's passing ability, but Kehl & Bender played well enough, stifling Shakhtar's counter-attacks.
- I'll be really glad to see Subotic & Gundogan back in the lineup for the return leg. Hopefully the rest of the team stays healthy until then.

While I should be looking for jobs tomorrow, I think I'll watch a Europa League doubleheader instead. Not sure which games to watch though. Any suggestions?

While I should be looking for jobs tomorrow, I think I'll watch a Europa League doubleheader instead. Not sure which games to watch though. Any suggestions?

At the risk of being a homer, I think Zenit-Liverpool and then Spurs-Lyon are the games of the day. Napoli, Chelsea, Inter and other big clubs are also playing, but I think the two I mentioned are the best matchups. Liverpool and Spurs don't play this weekend, either, so they should both field their strongest teams.

Speaking of Spurs and Lyon--the last time Spurs faced Lyon.

Spurs-Lyon is also a matchup of the #4 club in the EPL against the #2 club in Ligue Un. So there's objective stuff to back up the homerism. AVB should put out a pretty much first-choice side. Though reportedly he'll be rotating in Brad Friedel, which both denies the game of its most obvious narrative, Lloris returing to Lyon, and it may really hurt Spurs quality of play, as Lloris' quick-off-his-line sweeper role enables the club's pressing style, and Friedel sticks to his line more diligently than almost any keeper in the world.

Napoli facing Victoria Plzen could be interesting - I know absolutely nothing about the Czech club, but they're currently topping the Liga Gambrinus and they won their Europa League group with 13 points including a home victory over Atletico Madrid. (Their semi-helpful wikipedia entry is composed in adorably broken English.) And Napoli is an excellent side with loads of fun players.

You also have the option of watching Falcao. Rubin Kazan are pretty boring though, based on watching two of their games last year. Bayer Leverkusen - Benfica should be a good tie, given the status of both clubs, but I don't know much about them beyond a few names of good players. And Zenit-Liverpool as Shooty said.

I'm surprised to see no mention of Phil Jones, who I think was lucky to still be on the field by the end. He committed multiple card-worthy challenges, including the obvious penalty late in the first half that wasn't given (hard to claim that was a shoulder to shoulder when he extended his arm the way he did).

That said, United's defense was surprisingly impressive. That's a great result for them.

Also, I think Gus Johnson's NCAA Tournament style of announcing will take some getting used to. I think I prefer the understated British approach.

Speaking of that game, I thought it was a great result for Man U since RVP and Rooney weren't all that good and I wasn't impressed by Evra or Rafael, either. And I wonder if Fergie just told Phil Jones to get out there and kick everyone in sight? That's as physical as I've ever seen him play. Finally, Sergio Ramos really is a piece of ####. Is he so handsome that anyone who comes near his precious, precious face gets a yellow?

edit: Great minds and all jmurph!

And I wonder if Fergie just told Phil Jones to get out there and kick everyone in sight?

Him waving at... I forget the player... to get up after Jones had just knocked him to the ground (uncalled, naturally) was particularly fun.

I'm listening to the Men in Blazers podcast now and they have Gus Johnson on talking about how he needs to learn to talk less and let the ambient noise do more work. So at least he knows what he has to change about his style.

I'm listening to the Men in Blazers podcast now

Has that improved at all? I tried a couple last year and the one guy was just doing constant shtick, like rehearsed, pre-written one-liner after one-liner that didn't make me laugh. I couldn't deal with it.

Has that improved at all? I tried a couple last year and the one guy was just doing constant shtick, like rehearsed, pre-written one-liner after one-liner that didn't make me laugh. I couldn't deal with it.

I don't know, all the soccer podcasts sound the same to me, tbh. Everything is covered superficially and everyone tries to be jokey. Even when The Guardian have Michael Cox on they don't give him space to say anything interesting as James Richardson is terrified he will bore everyone. It's just something to listen to while I plug away at work. Confessions time: I only listen to podcasts if Spur won that weekend. It is my shameful secret...

Eh, that's fair. I like the Guardian guys, and they rotate them enough so I don't get sick of anyone in particular.

I've gotten in the habit of going for a walk at lunch everyday, about 25-35 minutes depending, and I find the FW podcast to be pretty entertaining to listen to. I'm not looking for dramatic insight, just a bit of fun and a general update on what's happening in the soccer universe.

That was Gus Johnson's first European soccer match. He obviously did his homework and I don't think he did that bad of a job. Probably talked too much and needs to work on his flow. His over-excitement is his schtick but it sounds like he's willing to tone it down. I'd prefer a Ian Darke - Gary Neville partnership but its not going to happen.

De Gea was the best player on the pitch yesterday. I'm surprised Madrid didn't run with the ball more. Every time a Madrid player would dribble in or near the box United defenders would be too scared to try and tackle (other than Jones). You would think Madrid would be able to exploit De Gea weakness on crosses (12 corners, several other free kicks) but apparently Madrid has been terrible on set pieces all season and obviously they gave up the goal on a corner.

Speaking on announcing, are the UEFA games broadcast and then the local announcing added remotely? Or do they have control of the cameras? Because on Hummels' goal the announcer didn't even raise his voice until the ball had been in the net for a good second.

There's virtually always a home broadcaster who supplies the feed for everyone. Localized commentary can be added either from the stadium or a studio in the home country (generally depending on how rich the home country is).

Weirdly, there's a lot of bluster today about whether Spurs should let William Gallas leave the club in June. Of course they should let him leave in June! He'll be 36 next season and Spurs have Dawson/Vertonghen/Caulker/Kaboul. How is it even a question?

Only in Serie A...

Both teams are not screwing around. Probably wise for Liverpool to give Lucas a breather, though. I'm surprised Rodgers doesn't trust Borini to fill in for Sturridge as Liverpool look much better when Suarez has a partner up top.

Zenit St Petersburg: Malafeev, Aniukov, Luis Neto, Lombaerts,
Hubocan, Shirokov, Denisov, Witsel, Hulk, Kerzhakov, Danny.

Subs: Zhevnov, Faitzulin, Rodic, Lukovic, Semak, Djordjevic,
Evseev.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Jose Enrique,
Gerrard, Allen, Henderson, Downing, Suarez, Sterling.

Subs: Jones, Coates, Lucas, Borini, Suso, Shelvey, Wisdom.

Has the Russian league been on break like the Ukrainian league? As much as I love watching Liverpool squander chance after chance - not sure I want to watch them on a stream.

Suarez almost opens the scoring. Might have done better there.

The Zenit chanting sounds like they are trying to relate something vaguely religious and threatening. It's more of a reading than a song.

Has the Russian league been on break like the Ukrainian league?

They have a four-month break, I don't know which idiot thought it was a good idea to play football in Russia until the middle of December, though.

I don't know which idiot thought it was a good idea to play football in Russia until the middle of December

First name rhymes with Pep, last name rhymes with splatter...

I would have put a large amount of money on Suarez scoring there.

Now that I look it up I see that they have only a three month break and start again in the middle of March.

I wonder how they handled things when Sibir Novosibirsk played in the highest division.

Suarez really should play for Juventus.

Suarez is back to profligate Suarez.

Suarez is back to profligate Suarez.

He's the only one creating anything, though. But, yeah, that's 3 great chances he's missed now.

Last season was the first time the Russian league tried to operate on a "European" schedule with a winter break. It used to go from March to November.

I've decided to go with BATE v. Fenerbahce for the first game because why not. And Raul Meireles has just been given a red card.

For a debut, I thought Gus Johnson did well. Grading on a curve I give him a B or B-. He didn't add anything to the game, but he also didn't subtract much and I was fearing he would. I still question if he's the right guy to be the "American" voice of soccer. But I think he did well enough that he might develop into something ok. If nothing else, he clearly had done his homework and that is something that never could be said for Dave O'Brien. When I stop grading on a curve, I'm not sure he'll ever be higher than a C. But I think yesterday was a good first effort.

The one thing that I really don't understand is pairing Gus with Warren Barton. The entire point of the Gus experiment is to create an American voice for soccer. So you pair him with a Brit? That makes zero sense to me. And that's ignoring the fact that Barton has zero insight to offer in the studio and he's seemed to be even worse having to offer color from the booth. Why not Wynalda or McBride? Did either turn down the gig because of travel requirements? I thought yesterday's match was fascinating from a tactical perspective and I thought Barton did next to nothing in pointing any of that out to the audience.

With regards to Phil Jones, I don't think he deserved to be sent off, but that is simply because it wasn't carded earlier when he should have been. I do think he would have toned it down once it was necessary to do that, but when you haven't yet been cautioned, there is no reason to not tackle with reckless abandon.

Hulk smash!


(sorry, couldn't resist)

And Raul Meireles has just been given a red card.

3 minutes into the match! Nutso.

Liverpool need to go after a goal big time now.

Apart from a few bursts in the first fifteen-or-so minutes (and one break right now where they couldn't get a good shot off), Chelsea aren't doing all that much in Prague. Sparta the only side really going forward and the game is relatively lethargic.

Yea its a typical Chelsea match.

The one thing that I really don't understand is pairing Gus with Warren Barton. The entire point of the Gus experiment is to create an American voice for soccer. So you pair him with a Brit? That makes zero sense to me. And that's ignoring the fact that Barton has zero insight to offer in the studio and he's seemed to be even worse having to offer color from the booth. Why not Wynalda or McBride?

Well, I think this goes to your point. Barton's bad, but Wynalda and McBride are execrable. I would have no real problem with Fox putting together an American booth, but that doesn't mean they should select random Americans regardless of capacity.

I did also like Johnson. He needs polishing, but he was fun. The ability to express love of the game goes a long way for me.

Zenit seem like they're notably less than the sum of their parts. Liverpool should definitely have a goal or two. Zenit have a lot of talent, but not a lot of organization or clear plans when they go forward.

Well I think Barton is worse than either so I was thinking either would be an improvement, even if it was marginal. And you'd get the benefit of an "authentic" accent.

Wynalda doesn't do much for me but I think that McBride is pretty good. The problem with McBride (as I see it) is that his cadence is too distracting. He doesn't seem to be able to talk in a smooth, "natural" manner. I'm not sure how much better he can get, although I would assume more practice will at least somewhat improve things. But in terms of offering actual analysis, I think he's way ahead of either McBride or Wynalda.

But in terms of offering actual analysis, I think he's way ahead of either McBride or Wynalda.

I assume you mean Barton or Wynalda. I agree that McBride is on his way to passable in terms of analysis. But as you say, he's quite unpleasant to listen to. I expect announcers to not be bad at announcing.

For the feature presentation...

Spurs: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Dembele, Parker (c), Lennon, Bale, Dempsey & Adebayor

Lyon: Vercoutre, Lovren, Fofana, Reveillere, Bisevac, Umtiti, Lacazette, Malbranque, Gonalons, Lisandro & Gomis

So Spurs are resting the CD and keeper but putting in the first team everywhere else (with Adebayor forced because of Defoe)? Don't you need to rotate your midfielders more than your center defenders?

Steed's return to WHL? He played for Spurs, right?

So Spurs are resting the CD and keeper but putting in the first team everywhere else (with Adebayor forced because of Defoe)? Don't you need to rotate your midfielders more than your center defenders?

He's been rotating central defenders all year. Vertonghen is the clear #1 CB and Gallas sees a fair amount of time. Nothing unusual there. Spurs don't play this weekend so there's no reason not to go all out.

A massive upset brewing in Naples.

More than just brewing now, Napoli are going to lose to Plzen at home!

edit: I just now realized I made a pun. I assure you it was not intended, but I kinda like it anyway. So there.

Oscar scores 45 seconds after coming on.

The Italians are never going to get that 4th CL spot back. Napoli down 3 goals at home now.

There was also an attack on Pilzen supporters by the station near the ground. 4 reported injuries, one stabbed.

Another black eye for Serie A.

Excellent 1-0 win for Benfica in Leverkusen; Levante impressive in a 3-0 win over Olympiakos at home.

There was also an attack on Pilzen supporters by the station near the ground. 4 reported injuries, one stabbed.

UEFA will probably blame it on the science of metallurgy...

So Spurs are resting the CD and keeper but putting in the first team everywhere else (with Adebayor forced because of Defoe)? Don't you need to rotate your midfielders more than your center defenders?

Spurs have rotated midfielders some this year. But this is their only game this week, so AVB is playing his first-choice team.

I would have liked to see Siggy or Holtby in place of Dempsey. He needs rest.

Rubin 1-0 up within six minutes at Atletico Madrid. Looking like quite the day for Russian clubs.

Gareth Bale's free kicks are getting Beckham-like. Holy crap.

The up and down on that kick was unreal. 35 yards?