After Capello, England wonders what’s next

By: Kiran Balan

With the sudden resignation of Fabio Capello, the English Football Association has been left scrambling for a replacement. According to press reports and rumors, the F.A. prefers a manager who is English, but is England ready to give another Englishman a chance after the failures of Steve McClaren?

Team/Player of the Week: 2/5

By Kiran Balan and Joe Ballard

It was another terrific weekend of soccer in the EPL, and while our team of the week was a simple choice, there were so many great individual performances we couldn’t limit the award to just one player. So have a look at DB20′s first ever player(s) of the week as well as a team who “gunned” down their opponents this weekend.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like De Gea?

Mark Bosnich, Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez, Andy Goram, Paul Rachubka, Raymond Van der Gouw, Ricardo, Tim Howard, Roy Carroll, Edwin Van der Sar, Ben Foster, Tomasz Kuszczak, Ben Amos, Anders Lindegaard, and David De Gea. These are the 15 goalkeepers who have started for Manchester United since the legendary Peter Schmeichel retired in 1999. Whereas Newcastle had Shay Given, Blackburn had Brad Friedel, and Bolton still has Jussi Jaaskelainen, it’s been something of a circus in the United goal for the majority of the last 13 years (the Van der Sar years aside).

India: A New Age Of Soccer

Hernan Crespo hoping to win more silverware

By: Kiran Balan

Soccer is the world’s sport. It has the ability to unite and create opportunities for anyone and everyone who has the determination and desire to succeed. It is with this thinking that India has developed a soccer league called the Premier Soccer League. The main goal of this large project is to raise awareness of the soccer in the region and to build on the recent soccer frenzy that hit the country in recent months. The new league will be a welcomed breath of fresh air to a country that is cricket crazy.  With the Indian national soccer team ranked at a dismal 158^th in the world according to FIFA’s current rankings.  The league will begin in the Indian state of West Bengal and based on the popularity of the league, could spread to other states in India.  It is believed to have a similar structure as Major League Soccer in North America and of the competitive I-League in India.

Top 10 Deadline Day Transfers: January 2012

By: Kiran Balan and Joe Ballard

Another January, another Transfer Deadline Day done and dusted. It might not have been the barnstormer of big-name moves we were hoping for, but there were still plenty of surprise transfers all around England and even some here in America’s MLS. My colleague Kiran and I are bringing you our top ten transfers from Deadline Day and our thoughts on how these players could impact their new clubs.

Nikica Jelavic:

Rangers FC to Everton (Undisclosed Fee)

Jelavic signed a four-and-a-half year deal with David Moyes’ side on Tuesday for a fee thought to be in the range of £6 million. The precociously talented striker signed with Glasgow Rangers in 2010, quickly becoming their star man up front and leading them to two Scottish Premier League titles. The EPL will be a big step up for the Croatian, but he has the skills to acclimate and could be the spark Everton needs to kick-start their season. An excellent piece of business for Moyes’ team.

Team/Player of the Week: 1/29

With the EPL taking a break this weekend, the F.A. Cup proved once again that the old magic is still alive, with several upsets and surprise results taking place. While Clint Dempsey and Fulham made last week an incredibly simple process, this week we’ve got so many good choices that along with our usual team of the week, we’re including a few shoutouts to other teams who also pulled off excellent results. So our final team of the week award for January goes to a club from League Two, while our player of the week is a certain popular member of the US Women’s National Team!

The US Women’s National Team: Hearts of Gold

By: Kiran Balan

The year 2012 is a year of no regrets for the United States Women’s National Soccer Team. After a rather disappointing 2011 in which the USWNT barely qualified for the World Cup in Germany and losing a heartbreaking final to tournament underdogs Japan, the time came to move forward. Olympic qualifying matches have come thick and fast for the United States, but the US has used their limited time together to rebuild lost chemistry and to fix mistakes that proved costly in 2011.

Carling Cup 2012: Year of the Underdog

Strange results have been in abundance in the Premier League this season- even by its normal standards- but the Carling Cup has also thrown up its share of surprises in 2011/12. Crystal Palace only went to Old Trafford and stunned Manchester United, while Cardiff City took care of Blackburn Rovers in the quarterfinals. The semifinals pitted the two remaining Championship sides against each other (won by Cardiff), while underdogs Liverpool defeated league leaders Manchester City in the other tie. This means a second division team will be in the Carling Cup final for the first time since 2001, when Birmingham City narrowly lost to Liverpool in a penalty shootout.

Many neutrals are thrilled by this prospect, and rightly so- who doesn’t love a good underdog story? Well, others are saying that the final will be dull and predictable and that they should just give the trophy to Liverpool now. They lament that the final won’t be contested by two “bigger” teams and therefore assume it won’t be exciting. This is, quite frankly, ridiculous. 

2012: A New Year and a New United States National Team

                                                                                                                                                                                        By: Kiran Balan

On January 21^st 2012, the United States Mens National Soccer Team opened the calendar year with an international friendly against Venezuela. In the lead up to this game, Venezuela looked to be formidable opposition, especially during a successful Copa America in which they were able to beat cup favorites Argentina in one of the shock results of the year.  In addition the United States have been unlucky with a recent run of results yielding only 3wins in 8 games.  This friendly match proved to be another testing ground for players looking to make a break through to the main 1^st team. The players called up consisted an MLS majority along with Jermaine Jones and Ricardo Clark who both ply their trade in the German Bundesliga. Many were skeptical of the US getting a result against their South American opposition, despite being undefeated against Venezuela in particular.

EPL Team/Player of the Week: 1/22

In a new feature at DB20, my colleague Kiran and I will be choosing a “team of the week” and a “player of the week” from each weekend of English Premier League matches. We’re hoping most weeks will be debatable for all of us as well as our dear readers but quite frankly, this week’s choices were simple. Without further ado, here is the inaugural EPL Player/Team of the Week!