Today the soccer world has lost one of its greats.  Sir Robert William Robson, or Sir Bobby Robson as most people know him, has passed away at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer.

The legendary English manager will be remembered as one of the most successful England coaches of all time, a dynamic attacking winger in his playing days, and a man who dedicated his talent and love to the betterment and good of the game.

He will be missed.

Here are several articles regarding Sir Bobby Robson:

Top Ten Moments

Sir Bobby Robson: 1933-2009

Obituary: by Richard Jolly

Pay Tribute to Sir Bobby Robson

Sir Bobby Robson Honoured

Sir Bobby Life in Photos

Share your thoughts on the passing of a legend.

Kenny Cooper has been sold to German second division side TSV 1860 Munich, pending a medical exam, according to Soccernet.com

The deal was announced this morning but, per MLS policies, none of the terms of the deal were announced.

Here is the official statement by Dallas GM Michael Hitchcock:

“Kenny has been an outstanding player for us over the last four seasons as well as a tremendous ambassador for FC Dallas in his time with the club, and we wish him the best in Munich,” said general manager Michael Hitchcock in a press release. “Kenny indicated to us that he wanted to return to Europe when his contract expired next year. The timing of this transfer allows Kenny to continue his career overseas while providing our club with valuable resources for new acquisitions.”

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Everton walked away with a penalty kick victory after a the All Star game ended 1-1.   The game wasn’t as flashy as one would have hoped but it was still an entertaining game to watch. 

Stuart Holden set up Everton’s first goal when he misplaced a pass right to Louis Saha just outside the All Star’s box.  Saha made no mistake and opened up the scoring.  Holden made up for his mistake after he redirected a pass from Casey into the path of Brad Davis to tie up the game.  The game went to PK’s after the final whistle.  Tim Howard stopped Davis, Arnaud, and Ljungberg to give Everton the victory. 

Landon Donovan was able to make a second half appearance for the MLSers and he put on a great show.  Probably the best MLS player out there.  Freddy Ljungberg also had a good night, even though is hard work usually led to nothing.  Wilman Conde was the easily the best defender for the MLS team and Conor Casey did a lot of dirty work up top.  Some players looked disinterested or weren’t clicking with their teammates, but that was bound to happen.  Fredy Montero looked like he was going to put on a show but an injury slowed him down a bit. 

The game is a good opportunity to watch some of our guys in action against a top, although in preseason form, English club.  There were a couple of players on the pitch last night that didn’t look out of place against Everton and it got me thinking about who is most ready to head over seas.  

Guys like Landon Donovan and Wilman Conde look ready for the challenge of playing in Europe, while others such as Fredy Montero and Stuart Holden showed enough potential to spark interest.

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Share your thoughts on last nights All Star game and the players that impressed you?

Arsenal defender Kolo Toure has just signed a 4 year deal with Manchester City.  The agreement with the Sky Blues was for a fee of around £16m.  

The 28 year old Ivorian international has spent the last 7 seasons with Arsenal alternating between defense and midfield.  In January 2009, Toure expressed his desire to leave the London club after an altercation with teammate William Gallas.  Toure agreed to hold off his move until the summer.

Although Toure is not the same calibur as John Terry, he is still an excellent central defender.   Toure was the starting center back for the Arsenal side, nicknamed “the invincibles”, that went 49 games unbeaten betweent 2002 and 2003.  Toure reached his peak in 2005-2006 season when he was regarded as one of the best defenders in the world and labled the “African Fabio Cannavaro” by the Italian press after Arsenal knocked Juventus out of the Champions League. Although he is short for a center back, he makes up for it with incredable pace, timing, and leaping ability. 

Toure is Manchester City’s first big name defensive signing of the summer.  The club has already signed forwards Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Roque Santa Cruz, as well as midfielder Gareth Barry.   The club’s pursuit of John Terry looks dead but they are still bidding for Everton and England defender Joleon Lescott.

What do you think of this signing?  Now that the club’s attention is on defenders do you think they have a shot at winning the title?

ColoradoRapids.com Report

Scottish winger Jaime Smith has been officially signed by the Colorado Rapids from Aberdeen FC.  Making way for the signing is midfielder Terry Cooke. 

Cooke was a fan favorite at DSGP and it is sad to see him go.  He wasn’t necessarily the best player but every now and again he would deliver a brilliant cross or through ball that would get the whole stadium out of their seat.  I think he endeared himself to the fans because he was capable of doing something magnificent at any given moment. 

After Smith took charge of the team it became evident that Terry Cooke no longer had a place in the system.  Coach Smith opted for the faster more dynamic player such as Colin Clark and Jacob Peterson on the wing.  Jaime Smith is the type of dynamic one-on-one attacker that Coach Smith perfers. 

Cooke was relegated to the bench this season only appearing 10 times, with 5 starts. His single goal and assist this year came during a substitute appearance at the Rapid’s home opener against Kansas City.  Cooke came on the field late in the second half and his first touch on the ball was a free kick that he placed beautifully past Kansas goalkeeper, Kevin Hartman.  His assist later in game would lead to the game winner.  Clearly frustrated in the last few weeks the inevitable finally occured. 

Cooke leaves the Rapids after 4 and a half seasons.  He made 106 appearances for the club scoring 4 goals and providing 34 assists.  His 34 assists rank him second in the list of Rapid’s all-time assist leaders, Chris Henderson is first with 53 assists.

Terry Cooke is 32 years old and has played for the likes of Sunderland, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Manchester Cith, Sheffield Wednesday, and Manchester United.  Cooke is passionate about playing the game so I am sure he will land somewhere in the near future.  Hopefully it is in MLS and there are plenty of teams who need a veteran right mid.  

In the end I think it will be a good move for the club.  What do you guys think about this development?  Are you sad to see Cooke go?  What do you think of the team that Coach Smith is putting together for an end of the season playoff push?

Here are a few quick stories for a slow Tuesday:

Freddy Adu is training at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.  He will rejoin Benfica this week but a source close to Adu has hinted that at least one Dutch club is interested in his services.  The source also assured that Adu’s next loan deal will not be a bench sitting experience like the one at Monaco. 

Joseph Ngwenya is set to return to MLS.  The former Columbus Crew and Houston forward is in negations with MLS to secure a return to the league.  The 28 year old has been floating around Europe since late 2007.  He played for Austrian side SK Austria Karnten before his contract was dissolved and he went on trial at Bayern Munich.  Ngwenya failed to earn a contract in Germany and signed for Turkish side Antalyaspor, but only made 3 appearances for the club.  The bright side of his European experience is that he was able to earn his first cap for Zimbabwe, four more caps followed in 2008.  

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2009 MLS ALL-STAR GAME
MLS ALL-STARS v EVERTON FC
RIO TINTO STADIUM, Sandy, Utah
July 29, 2009, 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN2; Galavision)

These games are fun because you get to see some player combinations that can only happen on fantasy league teams.  It’s all in good fun as long as no one gets hurt.  Here is some news surrounding tomorrow’s game.

Tomorrow night’s All Star game might be without one of the league’s brightest stars, Landon Donovan.  The US and Galaxy forward has a right calf injury that might keep him out of the game.  

Donovan joins Shalrie Joseph, Pat Onstad, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, and Dwayne DeRosario on the list of All Star absentees.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has signed a 5 year deal with Barcelona.  Barcelona will pay 46 million euros, plus send Samuel Eto’o (valued at 20 million euros) on a permanent move, and Alexander Hled on loan.  If Inter wishes to keep Hleb after the loan it will cost them 10 million euros plus 2 million euros for appearances and results. Ibrahimovic’s contract has a 250 million euro buy out clause!!!

The big Swedish striker will wear the number 9 jersey left by Samuel Eto’o.  Zlatan is Barca’s third major signing this summer after already securing Brazilian’s Maxwell and Keirrison.

When asked why he wanted to leave Inter, Zlatan stated that:

“Moreover, I was fed up of Italy, of Milan, of your football: you play badly, there’s too much stress. In short, I needed something else. Did Inter pay me more than any other footballer? No comment.”

“The more I saw Barcelona play, the more I wanted to leave.”

Who can blame the guy? After watching Barcelona and the Spanish national team on display this past year who wouldn’t want to make a move to La Liga.

With Ibrahimovic now signed with Barcelona that means that Samuel Eto’o is now officially an Inter Milan player.  The Cameroon international was very pleased with the move and has already set the Champions League trophy as his goal.

“I’m very happy to finally have arrived in Milan,” he said. “For me this is a new adventure and I really want to make the very most of everything. I’m starting a new life and I hope it brings happiness and success. My first aim will be to win the Champions League.”

”I can’t but wish Ibrahimovic good luck. I have won a lot at Barcelona and now I hope to do the same with these colours, if not, more.”

So who comes out the winner in this trade?  Personally I think its going to be Inter.  The addition of Eto’o, Hleb, and 46 million euros will go a long way towards Inter repeating as Italian champs and making a solid push in the Champions League.  If Mourinho uses the funds from the Zlatan sale to acquire his top two targets, Chelsea’s Deco and Carvalho, who are priced at 12 million euros, the Italian giants might just have come up with 3 world class players and some change.

Barcelona loses a guy who scored 39 goals last season plus 46 million euros.  I don’t see why keeping Eto’o and forking out another 4 million euros to land David Villa wouldn’t have been more economical.  But then again, Zlatan is a very special player.  I think his magic might be more appreciated and allowed to flourish at Barcelona than in Italy.

What do you think about this player swap?  Who got the better deal?  How will the lineups change at Inter and Barca?

The Gold Cup is finally over and it is a good time to look back and see who helped themselves during this tournament.  It is easy to forget the positives after watching Mexico anally abuse our young and inexperienced squad.  Personally I could care less about the result because I understand what this tournament was about and what we got out of it.  I think the fact that the US team made it to the final of this tournament was a miracle in itself.  This team was setup for failure from the beginning but unfortunately it had to happen in this fashion at the hands of Mexico.

I made a deal with myself a few years ago to not get upset over the arrogance and delusional mindset of the Mexican media.  They are trying to sell a product not accurately asses the quality of their national side.  Once you understand that you can tune it out like the “Shamwow” guy in those infomercials.  

This is the roster picture post Gold Cup:

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Troy Perkins

Defenders: Jonathan Spector, Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Jay Demerit, Frankie Hejduk, Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Chad Marshall

Midfielders: Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber, Jose Torres, Stuart Holden, Clint Dempsey, Sacha Kljestan, Maurice Edu

Forwards: Brian Ching, Charlie Davies, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan

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Rapids newest signing, Facundo Diz

 

The Colorado Rapids face the New York Red Bulls this Saturday at Dicks Sporting Goods Park at 7pm. Both teams need a win this weekend.  The Rapids are playing to keep on pace for a playoff position, the Red Bulls are playing to find a win and make a very unlikely playoff push. 

The race in the West is heating up as LA has shown good form riding a 4 game winning streak.  Chivas USA, on the other hand, was the best team in the league earlier the season but has had an incredible drop in form losing their last 4 league matches. Right now the Rapids (24 points) are chasing Toronto FC (26 points) for the last wild card spot.  Just below Rapids, RSL sits with (20 points) and a win tonight against Dallas will see RSL right back in the race.  Rapids need to win to keep up with the top half of the table and to keep the bottom half from catching up.

The Rapids:

The Rapids are coming off a tough loss against DC United last weekend.  After scoring first, the Rapids gave up 3 goals in 15 minutes. I did not expect the Rapids to win at RFK, despite trouncing DC 3-0 at Dick’s less than a month before.  Even though a loss was expected, the poor performance was a little troubling. 

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