Assorted Fun

Okay, I was planning on doing a roundup of all Liverpool players in action yesterday in the European qualifying and friendly matches. The official site beat me to it.

In lieu of this, I’ll point you to a couple of things around the soccer blogosphere that I’ve found interesting recently. And I’ll apologize for the lack of words on my end; don’t fear, I’ll return to my usual, excessively verbose self by the weekend.

• EPL Talk, an excellent site with an excellent blog and podcast, is making the trip across the pond to see 4 games, highlighted by Manchester United at Chelsea. Not content to simply write about the experience, the Gaffer will be uploading tons of photos, and doing frequent podcasts from England, all in the hopes of showing American fans the experience of live Premier League soccer. Fantastic idea.

One thing I found fascinating in the build-up of this trip is the Gaffer’s difficulty in obtaining Liverpool tickets. Local Liverpool fans complain about troubles obtaining tickets (and rightfully so), but I can personally attest how difficult is it for visitors to get to games at Anfield. Despite living in England for over 6 months, the only time I was able to see Liverpool play was at Upton Park. The fancard process does not work unless you live in the area, and/or attend a number of games. The fact remains there’s simply not enough seats at Anfield to satisfy everyone. This is a roundabout way of saying it, mostly in the hopes of avoiding all the sentimentality surrounding the debate, but it’s simply another example of the need for a new stadium with a greater capacity.

• I’m bad at keeping completely up to date on the MLS, and it shows in the content I put up here, but the MLS Cup that took place over the weekend is worth mentioning. Which is why it’s nice that du Nord, the New England Revolution blog My Very Brain, and The Dcenters have it more than adequately covered.

• Soccernista goes some way in explaining why many, like I, are so bad about following the MLS. First, the MLS institutes the so-called “Beckham rule,” in an attempt to get star players on this side of the ocean. And it appears its first use will be to sign the long-past it Luis Figo, who’s looking for a last big payday and won’t get it from many other places.

•Meanwhile, in Liverpool news, the doctors are claiming Momo Sissoko’s operation was a success, and we’ll know the exact time-table for his return in a few days