24
May
No words.
No words.
Photo: Thomas Hautmann / FOX Soccer
By Thomas Hautmann
On Friday, the FOX Soccer crew headed to Wembley for a walkthrough ahead of Saturday’s big game. The stadium is quite a sight: you can see the whole of it as soon as you get off the Underground stop at Wembley Park. I’ve never been to London before, but I do have seen plenty of modern stadiums and have to say Wembley is amongst the finest I’ve been to. Sadly, I’d never been to the old one.
Rob Stone, Eric Wynalda, and Warren Barton, visibly jetlagged yet looking dapper as ever, made their way to their little studio, the press box and finally on to the pitch, where I reverted back to being 10 years old, feeling as happy as a clam. And then depressed because I never realized my dream of actually playing on such a perfect pitch.
The complex around the stadium is just now starting to set up shop. The plethora of stands is beginning to stock up on the inventory of flags, kits, badges and fan scarves (or schalls, if you will). The food stands, too, are beginning to pile away hundreds of bottles of ketchup, mayo, and jars of wieners. That’s right, hot dogs in a jar. I know what I’m not having on Saturday. And I sincerely hope that the thousands of German fans hoping to score some brats or curry wursts at the game aren’t going to catch wind of this. That’d be like Italians getting duped into eating a pie at Little Caesar’s.
Photo: Thomas Hautmann / FOX Soccer
In London center, it seems as though the activity has picked up slightly, but in general it still doesn’t really “feel” like it’s hosting the Champions League final in just a couple of days. So far we’ve only come across a handful of German fans, and one very excited presenter for German TV station RTL and his cameraman. Clearly, the “German invasion” which so many tabloids have warned about, is still a day or so away.
Later in the afternoon, I met up with Gus Johnson, the voice of Saturday’s broadcast. Gus has really done his homework on the two German teams, which our whole production will benefit from. My job now is to help him with the admittedly difficult pronunciations of the players’ names. Ilkay Gundogan, Marcel Schmelzer, and Mario Gotze’s replacement, Kevin Grosskreutz don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Gus is really looking forward to another great match at Wembley— after calling Wigan’s dramatic win in the FA Cup final — and I expect him to do a great job.
Despite Manchester City’s dreadful defense of its Premier League crown this season, Sergio Aguero’s stock has continued to rise. The Argentina international remains one of the league’s most lethal strikers and has attracted interest from Real Madrid.
Also, Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke has put a number of clubs on high alert after he announced that he could be looking to join a new club this transfer window.
For this rumor and the rest of today’s paper gossip, click here.
Photo: Thomas Hautmann / FOX Soccer
By Thomas Hautmann
The trip to London couldn’t have started any better. I succeeded in getting about two and a half hours of sleep on the flight, which is pretty much a minor miracle when you consider I sat only three seats away from an ominously wide-eyed baby girl who seemed ready to burst into tears at any second. Next there was no wait at the border patrol, and then I was startled to find my suitcase already waiting for me at baggage claim, which never ever happens.
A colleague of mine arrived on the next flight, so we cabbed it together to our hotel in Trafalgar Square. Besides finding constant amusement in the fact we were driving on the other side of the road, we were thoroughly entertained by our cabbie, Warren. While he gave us a “free” tour of all the famous London spots on the way, he also tells us, upon my asking, that he is a huge Millwall supporter and used to get into fights pretty much after every game. No really, straight out of Green Street Hooligans.
Wayne Rooney’s days at Manchester United look numbered with wealthy French club, Paris Saint-Germain, throwing its hat into the ring to sign the England international. A lot will come down to how the initial talks go between new United manager - David Moyes - and Rooney, but there will definitely be a number of interested clubs circling.
For this rumor and the rest of today’s paper gossip, click here.
It’s not a good-bye.
Thank you all for watching and for supporting the Premier League all these years on FOX Soccer. It’s been a blast and our pleasure bringing it to you, the fans.
As a reminder, FOX Sports 1, America’s new sports network, will be our new home for soccer starting August 17. Until then, FOX Soccer has next weekend’s Champions League final on tap, as well as this summer’s Gold Cup and plenty more.
Seemingly one of the most talked-about stories in football at the moment is Radamel Falcao’s next destination. Newly-promoted Monaco looked set to have won the race for the Colombian’s signature, but it has emerged that Manchester City is close to snapping up the Atletico Madrid star.
Also Chelsea looks set to have a busy transfer window, with Fernando Torres looking likely to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer.
For this rumor and the rest of today’s transfer gossip, click here.
As the season comes to a close, we examine the history and impact of relegation from the Premier League with our three-part series “Surviving on Top.” Various topics during in our discourse include the overview of relegation, the 21-year history of Premier League relegation, as well as statistical and financial analysis on the impact of relegation.
To start, the most recent team to seal their fate to England’s second-tier league - the Football League Championship - were Wigan after their defeat against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday:
Wigan previously held the distinction of being one of 11 clubs that never suffered relegation from the Premier League; with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Stoke and Swansea also in the list. Conversely, of the 45 clubs that have enjoyed spells in the Premier League, eight of them have been relegated three or more times from the top flight:
On Saturday, we take a look at the statistical odds of relegation and promotion, as well as the financial impact for each club in their respective league. All of this is leading up to FOX Soccer’s coverage of the final Premier League matchday with nine games live on broadcast across the FOX family of networks.
Photo: Jamie Trecker / FOX Soccer
By Jamie Trecker
SALFORD, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
On Saturday it was drummers, today it was drum kits. At about 10 a.m. on Sunday, the Angel Centre, a multi-use facility next door to the old Royal Salford Hospital, opened its doors to a scruffy lot unloading vans.
No, it was not Chelsea pulling up to play at Old Trafford (we’ll get to that later). Manchester is hosting a massive music festival, Sounds from the Other City, that will take place across 11 venues and feature some 130 acts. Most of the venues are small, but the bands aren’t. The headliners include trance music pioneer Simon Postford, Glasgow noise-rockers Divorce, and Oregon’s well-regarded Parenthetical Girls.
Did I mention the venues are small? Bands will be playing in the same pub where Marx and Engels discussed the means of production over an open fire. On Sunday, the Salford Arms was clearing a path for all the equipment while I made my way to Old Trafford. The manager’s expression was equal parts exhaustion and panic.
Photo: Jamie Trecker / FOX Soccer
By Jamie Trecker
LONDON, ENGLAND
Wembley Stadium will turn seven later on this year. For a toddler, it’s getting quite a workout. Over the next several weeks, London’s iconic stadium will host the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals and then the Football League promotion playoffs – the richest game in all of soccer.
On Thursday, we were invited to an FA program shoot (you’ll see it on May 25) that will show off some of the stadium’s history and legacy. One of the most surprising things about it is how vibrant a venue it is outside of game days. During our taping, Wembley was crawling with tours, so many that the guides had to call in reinforcements and extend hours. It should come as no surprise that many of these visitors spoke German.
One thing that those visitors got to see – and did not know it – was the Champions League trophy itself. It’s kept in a silver gig crate up in the FA’s office on the fourth floor, and two young men carry it down to you. As we had the trophy outside, next to Bobby Moore’s statue, for security purposes we asked the tour group leaders to tell the visitors it was a replica. But, I can tell you now, that if you were a visitor between 2:30 and 3:30 on Thursday, you saw the real thing. Special congratulations to the enterprising little boy who went up and touched it.
