It's a bye week and we are winless. That's all I want to say about that. To the news...
Moyes out! Giggs in!
Turns out the guy in the grim reaper costume had it about right: Moyes was a dead man walking as manager of Manchester United. This morning, with Champions League football a memory and no cups left in prospect, the club fired the Scot after less than a year at the helm, naming serial philanderer Man U legend Ryan Giggs as interim manager.
It goes without saying that essentially every successful top-flight manager in the world could be connected with the job - our Ryan Rosenblatt says Jurgen Klopp and Diego 'Cholo' Simeone are the front-runners. Who knows? What's certain is that one of the true blue bloods of world football is staring at some time in the wilderness.
Champions League preview
The UEFA Champions League semifinals begin today with Chelsea visiting Atletico Madrid, and SB Nation Chelsea blog We Ain't Got No History has the very latest in bespoke tactical previews. Feast your eyes on the glory!
Rapids trying a little public shaming
Colorado is just the latest team to need some extra time in the ice bath after playing San Jose, and they're tired of taking their lumps, so they've taken a page out of the pilgrim's playbook and gone with a bit of public shaming. This video and editorial were released after the game this weekend, a game that saw Alan Gordon go unpunished for a blatant elbow and Adam Jahn red-carded for a hit that would've drawn a fine in the NFL. Goonies, get it right.
Qatar World Cup
Oh, look, more changes to the Qatar World Cup. Instead of 12 stadiums, there will now by 8 stadiums because they are already behind on the construction. The minimum number of stadiums required for a World Cup is 8. At this point, the Qatar World Cup is something totally different from what they first proposed. FIFA should be embarrassed and I'm rooting for Qatar to lose the World Cup.
NYCFC 'stadium plans'
New York City FC officially announced that they will play at Yankee Stadium and that the field's dimensions will be 110 by 70 yards which is very small. The capacity will be 33,000 and the conversion from baseball to soccer will take three days. NYCFC will stay there until they have their own stadium, there is no timetable.
Orlando City - actual stadium plans!
Orlando City announced that they will play in the Citrus Bowl for the 2015 stadium and move into their new stadium in 2016. There have been a few delays that are delaying the new stadium by a year. At least they have a plan (NYCFC, I'm looking at you). The team will make some improvements to the Citrus Bowl for the 2015 season.
Rummenigge: US will get out of Group of Death
Bayern Munch executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that he expects the U.S. and Germany to advance from the group stages. He went on to compliment Jurgen Klinsmann. I wouldn't get excited about this but pretty cool to see the U.S. get some respect.
Lerner to sell Aston Villa?
There are rumors out of England that American Randy Lerner will sell Aston Villa if they avoid relegation. Reports say that he would sell it to a group of Americans. American Brad Guzan is on the team and is from the Chicago suburbs. Lerner has denied the reports.
Who is Crystal Palace's Varys?
Paul Lambert, manager of Aston Villa, had a plan for dealing with Crystal Palace on Saturday - he'd send the team out in a wild 3-5-2, with wingbacks and central midfield shuttlers designed to shut down Palace's approach through the wings. No one would see it coming, as it was a shape Villa had not shown previously under Lambert.
Only, somehow, Tony Pulis' Palace walked onto the pitch apparently knowing exactly what they were to face. There's a Master of Whisperers on the Crystal Palace staff, and no one knows his name; but his fingerprints are all over both this weekend's draw and last week's surprise 0-3 road demolition of Cardiff City. In both, Palace seemed to have detailed insight into their opponent's plans.
Robert Lintott of Villa SB Nation site 7500 to Holte has the details.