Daily news roundups

More Expansion Draft reaction, Blatter, Weekend TV listings, more

Slim soccer news pickings from the Thanksgiving holiday. Checkout our Thanksgiving Day news roundup for extensive coverage of reaction to the Expansion Draft and more.

Union

Union Dues says Justin Mapp “has won himself into the ‘Do Not Boo’ list” and looks forward “to welcoming Mapp and his new team to PPL for the first time.”

MLS

Brian Ching’s manager says of his controversial selection by Montreal in the Expansion Draft, “It’s unfortunate that he’s the one who has to pay the price for decisions that were made by the organizations. It’s not a good situation for anyone right now.”

Chivas coach Robin Fraser explains that Zarek Valentin was left unprotected because the league graduated the rookie from Generation adidas. “It was baffling, to be quite honest. Extremely baffling. And I was extremely, extremely disappointed that he had ‘graduated’ from that. That’s the sort of program meant to allow players time to develop. For me, it just made no sense.”

San Jose Earthquakes general manager John Doyle has confirmed that local lad Bobby Convey’s option will not be picked up and the player will be made available in December’s Re-Entry Draft. “Frank’s [Yallop, Earthquakes head coach] made it clear, and Bobby’s made it clear — they can’t work together.”

Paris Saint Germain sporting director Leonardo has confirmed there have been discussions with David Beckham about joining the French club.

WPS

The New York Times looks at the struggle WPS, down to five teams including the Philadelphia Independence, is facing to retain sanctioning from US Soccer.

US

Citing the fact that soccer is the number one participation sport played by America’s youth, Sepp Blatter says the US needs to develop a deeper professional system:

“In such a huge country with 300 million people, if you only have one league [to go to], the professional league – MLS … then [there are very few] opportunities. There should be other leagues, and [US Soccer is trying] now to make a second league in order to inspire all these talents…You have [produced players] a lot in developing youth football, and I would even say – girls and boys football, really – it is tremendous, the most popular game amongst youth in the county.”

Elsewhere

German referee Babak Rafati, who last week attempted to take his own life before a Bundesliga fixture between Cologne and Mainz, has revealed that he is suffering from depression. His doctor said, “Mr Rafati felt a growing pressure to perform combined with the media pressure together with the constant fear of making mistakes, and this was leading to an ever-increasing burden.

Footy on the Telly™

Friday, November 25
Cologne v Moenchengladbach 2:30pm ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com
Udinese v Roma 2:40pm ESPN3.com, foxsoccer.tv

Saturday, November 26
Stoke v Blackburn 7:30am ESPN3.com
Dortmund v Schalke 9:30am GolTV
Manchester United v Newcastle 10am ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com
Chelsea v Wolves 10am Fox Soccer
West Brom v Spurs 10am Fox Soccer Plus, foxsoccer.tv
Bolton v Everton 10am foxsoccer.tv
Norwich v QPR 10am foxsoccer.tv
Crystal Palace v Millwall 10am foxsoccer.tv
Sunderland v Wigan 10am foxsoccer.tv
Vallecano v Valencia 12pm GolTV
Lecce v Catania 12pm Fox Soccer Plus
West Ham v Derby 12:20pm foxsoccer.tv
Arsenal v Fulham 12:30pm Fox Soccer
Toulouse v Valenciennes 1pm. foxsoccer.tv
Saint Etienne v Ajaccio 1pm foxsoccer.tv
Sochaux v Montpellier 1pm foxsoccer.tv
Nancy v Dijon 1pm foxsoccer.tv
Rennes v Evian 1pm foxsoccer.tv
Bordeaux v Caen 1pm. foxsoccer.tv
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid 2pm ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com
Norwich v QPR 2pm Fox Soccer Plus (delayed)
Lazio v Juventus 2:30pm Fox Soccer, ESPN3.com
Atalanta v Napoli 2:40pm ESPN3.com
Lille v Brest 3pm foxsoccer.tv
Benfica v Sporting Lisbon 3:15pm ESPN3.com
Getafe v Barcelona 4pm GolTV
West Ham v Derby 4pm Fox Soccer Plus (delayed)
Bolton v Everton 5pm Fox Soccer (delayed)
Cruz Azul v Morelia 6pm Azteca America
River Plate v Rosario Central 6pm GolTV
Chivas v Queretaro 8pm Telemundo

Sunday, November 27
Melbourne Victory v Gold Coast 1am Fox Soccer
Swansea v Aston Villa 8:30am Fox Soccer Plus, foxsoccer.tv
Siena v Inter Milan 9am Fox Soccer, ESPN3.com
Werder Bremen v Stuttgart 9:30am ESPN3.com
Levante v Gijon 10am ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com
Twente v Vitesse 10:30am ESPN3.com
Liverpool v Manchester City 11am Fox Soccer
Lorient v Nice 11am foxsoccer.tv
Auxerre v Lyon 11am foxsoccer.tv
Espanyol v Osasuna 12pm ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com
Mallorca v Santander 12pm DirecTV
Crystal Palace v Millwall 1pm Fox Soccer Plus (delayed)
AC Milan v Chievo 2:30pm Fox Soccer, ESPN3.com
Marseille v PSG 3pm Fox Soccer Plus, foxsoccer.tv
Santos Laguna v Jaguares 6pm Telefutura
Chivas v Pachuca 8pm Telemundo

Monday, November 28
Malaga v Villarreal 3pm DirecTV

One Comment

  1. It would be a disgrace if US Soccer did not give WPS another year to try to add more franchises. They need to give WPS a chance to follow up on the interest from Connecticut, Long Island, California, and the North West. The stakes for women’s soccer are too high to not give WPS the best chance to succeed.

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