Ok, I’ve said it plenty of times by now: but I really struggled to keep up daily writing routines when I was teaching full time. That’s what happens to me when I spend most of the day supporting 70 other people’s writing, and the rest of it trying to be a parent. Now that I’m back to teaching, I’m back to struggling. But I remain determined that I keep up with a practice that I quite enjoy: writing about sports.
So even when it’s hard, and when it takes me a while to do, I’m going to write updates about the teams I love and their struggles and successes. This time, a trip to the French Alps and Grenoble
Match Results: 14 W – 4 D – 13 L; 47 GF / GA 34
Women’s Results: 9 W – 1 D – 2 L; GF 30 / GA 7
The women of Grenoble had high hopes that they could move up into the second tier of club soccer, and they did just about everything in their power to make that happen. Jade Decilap, Claudia Fabre, Romane Pilot and Melanie Chabrier were the top leaders for the scorers, and Julie Tissino was excellent in goal to give them a chance to win every time out.
Unfortunately, the two defeats came to the two top sides in their League 3 Pool: Toulouse and Clermont. Those defeats were what left them in third place when the season came to a close. But with the season about to kick off again, hopes are high that this year is THE year for Grenoble.
Men’s Results: 4 W – 3 D – 11 L; GF 17/ GA 27
There’s simply no way to sugar coat this…the Men of Grenoble collapsed. They were vying for promotion in the first half of the season. But as soon as the calendar turned to February they simply could not buy a win. Worse, one abysmal month saw them score 1 goal and give up 8 en route to 5 straight defeats. Suddenly promotion was a fantasy and survival was in question. Vincent Hognon was dumped (understandably so) and Laurent Peyane took over…with just enough change in results to keep the team afloat. Over the summer Oswald Tanchot was given the opportunity to turn things around, and so far things have been…fine. Not good, not bad, just…fine.
Other Stories:
Really the bottoming out of the men’s side captures most of the drama of the year, but the women had to make a swap as well: elevating long standing assistant Nasreddine Behloul should provide some consistency for a strong team, but how much it pushes them to the next level will remain to be seen.
The other big story is the bittersweet departure of club icon Brice Mableu. It makes sense for one of the biggest difference makers on the club to look for a bigger stage to showcase his skills…and if Grenoble as a whole can’t go up to the top league, at least Brice can (with Saint Etienne). There were other changes too with Amine Sbai leaving for Saudi Arabia, Mathys Touraine going to Paris (FC), and Loic Nestor suffering a ligament tear that likely ends his 24-25 season before it began. Grenoble will have to do their best with a newer look.
Star Players:
The difference makers for les Femmes are the most noteworthy stars: Delicap, Fabre, Pilot and Chabrir are tried and true team leaders, just as Mableu, Nestor, and Jessy Benet have been for the men. While Mathys Touraine had a great season, he was less impressive during the downpour of defeats…but that’s true for everyone. The newest featured star is probably Julie Tissino who anchored the impressive defensive run for the women as well.
I fully and freely admit when I have fallen down on the job…and while I did in general this spring, with Vozdovac I feel extra guilty.
But rather than turn away or ignore the reality, let’s take a moment to dig in to what happened, and what’s next for the shopping mall Dragons
Match Results: 7 W – 7 D – 15 L; GF 32//GA 37
To begin, you have to know the club’s position coming in to 2024. Vozdovac was never the top dogs, despite playing on the roof of the Stadion Mall, but…they had become a reliable fixture in Serbia’s top flight. Over the first half of the season (Fall 2023) they had 28 points, good enough for 7th place out of 16 teams. Not awe-inspiring…but not out of the usual for the Dragons.
Then…just…oof.
The team said goodbye to the deeply valuable Borisav Burmaz who left for Romania and raked in a million pounds for young Nikola Zeceviv. While the transfers make sense as part of Vozdovac’s long term strategy, they did put a big strain on the team coming into the final stretch of the season…a strain doubled by players having to learn a brand new system when the club parted ways with manager Marko Savic right before the season resumed….and the strain showed.
Suddenly, the steady mid-table side became consistently bad. They netted only two points from 10 matches after getting 28 from the first 20. If they had done what they did before, they’d be back up in the race for European spots…but the bad times just got worse as they faced other relegation teams.
The back breaker was a May defeat to Zelznicar Pancevo. The decisive goal may well have been an own goal incurred by Vozdovac’s midfielder Matija Mitrovic: that goal lost the game…that loss left them one point behind Zelznicar at season’s end…that ended Vozdovac’s run in the top flight (but not Mitrovic, who signed with…[checks notes] Zelznicar…who also hired [checks notes] former Vozdovac boss: Marko Savic (sigh)).
Without the hope (however faint) of European football, Vozdovac ended up having to cut back on players and couldn’t rely on other teams sending players on loan to their team. And yet, the squad looks to be in good shape as they start their season in the second division (aka the Prva Liga Srbija). While the tickets haven’t been great yet (200-300 per game so far), they have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 putting them in 4th place (scoring 9 and only ceding 1). Keep this up and the Dragons may soar back into the top flight next year.
Other Stories:
Obviously, relegation really captures the main thrust of the season, but its’ worth noting that Vozdovac continues to raise eyebrows with their strong support for young players, training up talents…who then go on to play well for other clubs not named Vozdovac. But after a year that saw them bring in loanees from France and England…only to drop down…the incoming players were once again: local, and free, but in an effort to bounce back to the top tier they also brought in veteran talent and an old friend in coach Dejan Celar (who had spent 2 years as an assistant coach back in the 2010s).
Star Players:
This is Junior Flemmings…not a Serbian man with many surprising ‘J’s in his last name.
Jamaican international (and French league loanee) Junior Flemmings was easily the brightest spot during the spring slog. But there were solid showings from Mihajlo Neskovic (winger), and Bogdan Jovic (midfielder) as well as Nikola Djurcic and Vurkasin Djurdjavec in defense. But don’t get too excited…none of them are back for this season…about the only returning players for the dragons are newly deputized strike team of Bogdan Petrovic and Milan Koleravic so…fingers crossed for that.
It was hard to keep up with these posts when I was teaching full time, but I had hopes of figuring out a system as I prepped for a new school year. I did my reviews, I caught up on details, and made a full sheet of notes about our frequently victorious team from Norway: Rosenborg.
Then…I started preparing for the new school year…and…well…three more weeks went by necessitating still MORE catch up.
Such is the nature of the beast: and here now, a chance to catch up with Rosenborg BK
Match Results: 27 W – 4 D – 17 L; GF 85/GA 55
Women: 15 W -1 D – 6 L; GF 42/GA 20
The reigning cup winners came into the season hoping to finally break the hoodoo around a much deserved League title. And while they certainly look every bit as reliably awesome as usual, it seems to be another year of playing the bridesmaid in the Toppserien.
Simply put the Oslo side Valerenga is too potent having run away with the division a full 17 points ahead of Rosenborg at the time of writing. The black & white side is in danger of slipping to third place overall and ending up outside of European qualification spots as Brann refuses to give them any room for error. (There are still good chances that the team will muster a repeat in the Cup competition as a recent win over Viking has put them back into the Semi-finals in September)
Men: 12 W – 3 D – 11 L; GF 43/GA 35
The Menn were off to a great start in April. Storming through two rounds of the Cup competition, and owning a 3 win, 1 Loss rate in the league. Then May hit and the guys hit the skids, shortly followed by a pretty clear set of selling off established players (including Jayden Nelson, and Leo Cronic), stripping the team down to just the essentials, including a spurt of talented teenagers.
After I made those notes of a rough summer, the team had a tremendous resurgence at the end of August, including bringing back old friend Emil Ceide from the Italian side Sassuolo. But he’s been forced into the role of a super sub while the next generation of young stars bomb up and down the field leading the team to a four match winning-streak.
Other Stories:
Both teams have some very big games on their docket.
The men played against European super club: Manchester United in a friendly and managed a 1-0 win. To be fair, it didn’t count for anything, and the “Red Devils” are more “pesky imps” at this point than the dominant side of my childhood. But a win is a win, and a win against a reknowned opponent is awesome. (Reports that Manchester are eying some of Rosenborg’s young talent is both financially exciting, and personally aggravating).
Meanwhile, the Cup title and second place finish last year puts the Kvinner back in the European spotlight with a qualification match against legendary Spanish club Atletico Madrid. The Spanish triumvarate of Barca, Real and Atletico have been making major moves to build Female superclubs as well so…catching them at a down time for Rosenborg is, in Minnesotan terms “interesting”/”terrifying”)
Star Players:
Sara Horte held down the defense superbly for Rosenborg…which means her defection to Valerenga is bittersweet. She’s looking strong for another run to the title, but she might do it against our prefered side.
Meanwhile the youth movement is in full effect at both clubs with Svarre Halseth Nypan (17), Jesper Reitan Sunde (18), and Marius Broholm (19) leading the men while Froya Brennskag-Dorsin (17) has had superlative moments for the women in a way that reminds us of long-time blog hero: “Julie Blakstad” (cue trumpet fanfare)
Both Men and women do have some reliable veterans showing up as well. Cesilie Andreasenn and Emilie Natunes remain fulcrums of the attack while Rugile Rulyte remains a constat in between the pipes. Meanwhile the men continue to trust Edvard Tagseth, and Ole Christian Saeter to be what they always have been: club legends.
I never wanted to exercise during the long Indian summers, but I’m not a professional football player. So, let’s catch up with men who were paid to be in good shape and play well: Punjab Football Club.
Match Results: 7 W – 3 D – 5 L; GF 29/ GA 21
The fall of 2023 was a clear step up for the Shers (big cats…like Lions…but…I’m gonna keep saying Tigers). Throughout their first four months in the Indian Super League, Punjab did not play like the team of old. Try as Luka Macjen might he could not be everywhere on the field and the team looked like it would be heading for an ignominous end to a splendid opportunity.
Then came the new year, and French born Madih Talal joined the club immediately exploding with assists and inventive play. Almost instantly the squad doubled their prior win total, and before the season ended they came away with 5 wins in 11 matches, after just 1 in their first 14.
Though the team finished outside of the playoff spots, their huge improvement led to a much needed boost in confidence and set them up for another run. Though Talal and old standby Juan Mera left the team, Luka Macjen returned to be the club’s talisman and buoyed the squad to a tremendous showing in the Durand Cup. (Last year as their first taste of top tier soccer, the Shers looked outclassed: this year they won their group handily, before bowing out to bogey team Mohun Bagun in a penalty shoot out.)
Other Stories:
As mentioned above, the Sher’s said a lot of goodbyes at the end of last season. Rather than recap them, here’s the team’s Instagram goodbye
Punjab also shuffled their coaching staff, but kept things Greek bringing in Panagiotos Dilmperis to lead the squad. And in a moment that just tickles my personal fancy, they also signed Mushaga Bakenga who was formerly in the EliteSerien and started his career with Rosenborg Ball Klub, making him the (I think) second player to wear the kit for two of our favorite eleven teams!
Star Players:
It’s no great surprise that Luka Macjen is at the top of this list…he is talismanic to the point of being Punjab’s most bankable (and memeable asset)
We also want to shout out the obviously impressive Juan Mera, and the supremely influential Madih Talal but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the defensive stalwart Nikhil Prabhu.
Ok, I’ve said it plenty of times by now: but I really struggled to keep up daily writing routines when I was teaching full time. That’s what happens to me when I spend most of the day supporting 70 other people’s writing, and the rest of it trying to be a parent.
So rather than write one post covering six months of eleven teams in action, I’m going to break it up with posts as best as I can, I’ll fill you in on how the games have gone, who has excelled and any other news and stories worth knowing.
Match Results: 20 W – 8 D – 12 L ; GF: 103 GA: 49
Minnesota United: 10 W – 6 D – 11 L; GF: 40 GA: 41
The Loons have veered between world beating confidence and inexplicable distress. At the season’s start, there were some excellent showings despite upheaval in the roster and confusion on the coaching search (more on that in a little bit). But the team came together after the introduction of new manager Eric Ramsay and came into May as one of the top three teams in the Western Conference.
And then the wings fell off the high flying Loons.
That’s not fully accurate: the wings fell off the Loons and caught on fire and crumbled into ash and then got vacuumed up by a strangely aggressive cleaning crew who took them out and spat on them and called them names.
Just in case you think I’m being hyperbolic, please consider that over the first 14 games of the Loons schedule they won 8, drew 4 and only lost twice. But in June and July the Loons only won and drew 2, which means they quadrupled their loss total by dropping 9!
Minnesota Aurora: 10 W – 2 D – 1 L; GF: 63 GA: 8
To the south of St. Paul, Minnesota Aurora continued to light up their competition. They poured in 21 goals over two matches with Kenosha, and another 26 in the four matches against Chicago Dutch Lions and Bavarian United (a side out of Milwaukee).
Once again Aurora seems to be a proving ground for talented young players en route to the professional ranks as they dominate the games and share the love in racking up goals. But, once again, heartbreak awaited them in the knockout stages. Fortunately, instead of getting to the final match before the suffering began, the Minnesota side was dropped out with a sudden shocking twist of fate against Indy Eleven.
Other Stories:
There were a few shifts in personal in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Nicole Lukic, who oversaw the first two supremely successful Aurora seasons left before things got started to take over youth squad recruitment for the US Women’s National Team. The USWNT is arguably the most prestigious soccer program in the country (many World Cups/Gold Medals will do that for you), and Lukic had a tremendous run bringing in great young players to the Twin Cities, so she should be superb there, while Aurora barely missed a beat in the league with Colette Montgomery taking over.
The men’s situation was a bit more…uh…chaotic. You may recall that Sean McAuley was going to be in charge temporarily…then left to get rid of that “temporarily”. Cameron Knowles stepped up, but was still labeled as an “interim” manager even after the squad looked strong for the first few matches. Finally, the Loons landed a high profile manager from the other MUFC (Manchester United Football Club). Ramsay is young, but has a bright future…provided these summer doldrums don’t undo him.
As if coaching upheaval wasn’t already chaotic, Minnesota United had to deal with some transfer sagas as well: Kervin Arriaga has been a great defensive midfielder the last several years, and now he’ll get to try to show the same thing in Europe (albeit for Partizan Belgrade…against our pals at Vozdovac). But Kervin’s upward trajectory is nothing in comparison with the death spiral of the supremely talented Emmanuel Reynoso. From the fulcrum of the club who could demand his heart’s desire, Reynoso has spent two years preferring to hang out back home in Argentina rather than training with teammates. I don’t blame him, I’m a home body too…but when you hang out with guys who attack random teenagers with guns …uh…that’s not so cool. Ultimately Minnesota moved Reynoso to Mexico just to be rid of the discomfort…even though dropping him probably didn’t help the squad get better…but it did make the club less violent so…I’ll take it as a win.
Star Players:
Sophie French and Cat Rapp once again dominated defensive lines all throughout the uppermidwest. This year they were helped by newcomer Sage Wimes, and midfield maestros Katie Duong, Addison Weichers and Mariah Nguyen.
Adorable DSC pictures, just because.
The Loons seemed happy to give up the “hope for Reynoso to do something magical” strategy and found a good balance in their team. Tani Oluwaseyi has emerged as another goal scoring threat (even while the boys’ favorite Bongi struggles with lingering injuries). Oluwaseyi even managed to make the Canadian national team alongside permanent highlight reel goalie: Dayne St. Claire. St. Clair had help from Joseph Rosales’ very good defense in the backline and the all around creation and goal scoring accumen of Robin Lod and Hasani Dotson.
Ok, I’ve said it plenty of times by now: but I really struggled to keep up daily writing routines when I was teaching full time. Case in point, I’ve sat down to write about teams half a dozen times during this week of back to school business, but with meetings, plannings and trainings, it’s only now, on Friday night, that I’m actually taking time to write.
With the Bundesliga about to kick off tomorrow, it seemed the ideal time to take a beat and check up on our friends in Freiburg
Match Results: 8 W – 9 D – 15 L; GF 46/ GA 59
Herren: 6 W – 6 D – 8 L; GF 34/GA 36
After years of over achieving and being the sweetest little club in Europe, Freiburg ran smack dab into the buzzsaw that is incessant competition of the high achieving behemoth clubs of Europe. Without an oil magnate or soft drink bottler to buy up fringe players, the Boys of Briegsau were run ragged by the demands of another run in the Europa league. Once again, they faced their bogey team of West Ham United, and, after winning 1-0 at home they were pounded 5-0 in London. Exhausted and worn out they still had the chance to make another run for Europe, but they didn’t have the legs to make it happen. Winning only once in the last two months, they slipped to tenth as they said goodbye to their local legend.
Frauen: 2 W – 3 D – 7 L; GF 12 / GA 23
While the men were struggling down the stretch, the women were…struggling down the stretch. From their usual position just outside the top tier, the Babes of Breigsau lost 6 straight matches to plummet down to the bottom half of the table, finishing 9th overall (yes one spot better than the guys, but also only out of 12 teams, while the men were part of 20).
Other Stories:
Am I considering paying $35 for a Streich autographed card…yes…yes I am…
What can you say about Christian Streich that I haven’t already written. He was folksy, kind, and thoughtful. He was loyal, genuine, and pretty funny. He was the cherry on top of choosing Freiburg when this project started.
He retired at the end of the year, and all reports indicate that he’s doing nothing so much as just being with his family and relaxing: no angling for further appointments, no sanitized studio punditry, just keeping on as a normal dude.
Julian Schuster will take over this season, and he seems to be doing his best to become Christian Streich 2.0, going so far as to say “there’s a lot of Christian in me”. I look forward to tearfully wishing Julian a job well done in 2036.
Star Players:
As ever the standbys of Freiburg’s formidable teams were there: Vincenzo Grifo, Janina Minge, and Hasret Kayici remain stalwarts attacking, scoring, leading. This year their co-stars were a little more varied.
On the defensive side of the ball, Samantha Steuerwald is becoming the women’s defensive dynamo but Marie Mueller played so well in the last part of 2023 as to earn a move to legendary American team The Portland Thorns. Meanwhile Matthias Gunther was clearly valuable, especially as the men’s long slide to struggle coincides with his exit to an injury.
But it was also deeply gratifying to see Ritsu Doan (who we also grew to adore when he was playing for Japan at the World Cup) take the next step up with Freiburg as the most frequent target for Vincenzo Grifo. Ultimately, he couldn’t engineer enough offense to single handedly keep the foxes/griffins in Europe, but he did his darndest.
Time for another round of self-flagellation and obviously past-deadline Sports “journalism” as I recap the year so far for the Royals of Legon Cities.
Match Results: 8 W – 3 D – 9 L; 17 GF/20 GA
Legon ended January atop our annual table by winning their one and only game. From February to April they continued to look strong, or at least…strong enough. The tonnage of 1-0 games suggested that the team was challenged each and every week, but the number of wins was heartening as the Royals pushed towards the top half of the league and started a deeper run in Ghana’s MTN FA Cup (the premier tournament in Black-Star Country)
A somewhat friendly draw in the tournament saw the boys from Legon continue to progress, beating lower tier side Korfoidua (home of my Ghanaian dad, Braimah Dediako) was part of an impressive run all the way to the semi-finals. Two more wins and the Royals would have their first piece of hardware under their new name.
Perhaps that distraction pulled them away from the League competition. Coach Paa Kwesi Fabian oversaw a miserable May and June as the defense crumbled and the losses piled up enough to let the Royals slide, once again, back down toward the relegation zone. Losing the Cup semi to a strong side from Nsotraman left it all in the balance, and once again the Royals escaped by the skin of their teeth…one point kept them above the drop and sent them into the offseason preparing to survive as usual.
Other Stories:
If there is a silver lining to the lousy spring the Royals endured, it’s that there were no points taken off of opponents, no bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, and no last second interventions to save them. The team truly earned their spot, which is more than can be said for prior years when they were lucky to have rivals engaging in shady practices. This time, the lack of a subplot made the survival just a little sweeter.
Star Players:
Alidu Mohamed is a rising young star, at just seventeen, the winger provided three goals, two assists, and three man of the match awards. But the Royals will lean on him still more in the coming season as the team’s clearest leader, Samuel Tenadu, who notched 10 goals for the club, has left to join the Porcupine Warriors of Asante Kotoko.
But while the goals and creators get the highlights, a large chunk of Legon’s success came down to the matches when their defense was able to deny opponents a path. The clearest connection between Legon’s best moments and a player’s performance wasn’t Mohamed or Tenadu, it was Center Back Frank Atoko. We’re always happy to acknowledge a strong center back performance, and all the more so when he makes an argument for everyone earning better wages and the awesomeness of journalism/writing. So Frank, thank you.
Ok, I’ve said it plenty of times by now: but I really struggled to keep up daily writing routines when I was teaching full time. That’s what happens to me when I spend most of the day supporting 70 other people’s writing, and the rest of it trying to be a parent.
So rather than write one post covering six months of eleven teams in action, I’m going to break it up with posts as best as I can, I’ll fill you in on how the games have gone, who has excelled and any other news and stories worth knowing.
Match Results: 9 W – 4 D – 8 L; 36 GF / 41 GA
The last time we saw the Staggies, they were hoping to avoid another late season slog to stay above the relegation zone. There was a tremendous home win against Rangers, but a rough February and March led them to another round in the relegation region of the Scottish Premiership.
With every match increasingly important, the Staggies had to turn it on, but a brutal 4-0 loss to Motherwell left them behind St. Johnstone’s in goal difference and forced them to another relegation playoff, this year against Raith Rovers. Fortunately, this time there was no need to push for penalty kicks as they won both legs and secured another season in Scotland’s top competition.
After a number of offseason departures, the Stags had a perfect group stage in the League Cup looking the part of a top team. That completely came unraveled against Spartans, a League 2 side, who stood their ground and ended up leaving the Stags a little shell shocked, though not totally amazed given that they only have gotten 1 goal in their last 270 minutes of play.
Other Stories:
Derek Adams got a well earned boot out the door in February and the Stags turned to Don Cowie, who (fun fact) was born just 1 day before your mom! Unlike your mom, Don trained and debuted with Ross County and launched a strong career that took him all the way to the vaunted English Premier League before he ended up back at County right at the start of my blog writing days. As a local lad made good and proud to return home he has oodles of good well and also seems to be not a jerk (which is a big step up from the last couple Stags managers)
Star Players:
It’s impossible to talk about the salvation of the Staggies without mentioning the work of midfield maestro Yan Dhanda and the team’s strongest goal scorer, Simon Murray. They gave a difficult job their all and the Staggies wouldn’t still be in the premier league without them. As they move on to other clubs and challenges we wish them the best.
Equally important in County’s survival was captain and fellow central midfield stalwart Connor Randall, along with goalie Ross Laidlaw. But perhaps most influential has been the emergence of two more powerful defenders in Ryan Leak and loanee Will Nightingale (who has served as something of a brick wall for most of the Leagues Cup).
Ok, I’ve said it plenty of times by now: but I really struggled to keep up daily writing routines when I was teaching full time. That’s what happens to me when I spend most of the day supporting 70 other people’s writing, and the rest of it trying to be a parent.
So rather than write one post covering six months of eleven teams in action, I’m going to break it up with posts as best as I can, I’ll fill you in on how the games have gone, who has excelled and any other news and stories worth knowing.
Match Results: 0 W – 0 D – 0 L; 0 GF / 0 GA
Okay, I’m taking a bit of a cheap route to start out, especially as the Griz have yet to play a match. But they will kick off their season this week, and as the reigning Sippy Cup Winners, they have a lot to play for.
Other Stories:
While they weren’t playing any matches, the Griz continued training all spring and summer…oh and they continued going to classes and pursuing their academic goals with aplomb. The team once again bosted a 3.7 graded point average and several student athletes with a 4.0 (or perfect GPA). Sydney Haustein led the charge in the classroom and was named the Montana scholar athlete of the year before graduating alongside Kathleen Aitchinson, Charley Boone, Molly Quarrey, and Maysa Walker.
The coming season is a big one for the Griz as they will be celebrating the program’s 30 year anniversary come October. It’ll be a great opportunity to celebrate the long legacy of Montana’s premier soccer side, and they’ll follow it up by hosting the Big Sky Conference Soccer tournament and hopefully cinching another trip to the NCAA tournament.
The journey there starts with another non-conference gauntlet with the team facing former Pac-10 teams Oregon State and Washington State plus Rocky Mountain rivals Air Force, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Boise State. The Griz do start out as a pre-season favorite (per a poll of college coaches) and bring back All-American Forward (and Flathead high grad) Skyleigh Thompson for her Senior season.
Star Players:
Obviously Thompson stands out as a rising star to watch, but she’ll be following team captains Charley Boone (yeah for Graduate studies!) and Ally Henrikson. Plus, we’re obviously holding out hope for Minnesota’s own Bayliss Flynn.
The Royals did play a round of 32 match against against Koforidua Suhyen (who play near the home of my adoptive dad Braimah Dediako). Kwabena Boateng led the charge with a couple of goals and Nicholas Mensah led a defense that never looked troubled.
Up Next The Royals will have one more cup game in Februrary and we’ll see them restart the season in Karela on February 23rd
What’s the Word in ol’ Freiburg?
Record: 2 – 1- 1 GF: 6 GA: 5
Men looked good in a friendly against Frankfurt. But friendlies aren’t the same thing as competitive matches. And I’m willing to bet they would have taken 0-0 in a friendly and a win against Union Berlin…but it was not to be. Still the clean sheet should boost Noah Atubolu, and comes with another good showing by the young French wing backs Jordy Makengo and Kilian Sildillia.
Those wing backs were back at it again against Hoffenheim but when Manuel Gulde got a terribly timed red card right after Hoffenheim equalized, fear and panic could be felt widely in the crowd. This of course, is where Vincenzo Grifo saves the day by being himself, and so it was with a beautiful winner (3-2).
Grifo was good again in the next match against Freiburg but Makengo and Sidilla weren’t as effective on the same side and Atobolu had another rough outing to keep Freiburg maddeningly inconsistent losing (1-3)
Meanwhile, the big news for the women was the realization that squad leader Janina Minge is asking to leave the club at the end of the season. (This seems to be a bit of a routine for die Frauen where great players aim to go a little higher than the middle of the table…such is the way of things, I suppose.) But the team looked unphased this last weekend with a strong 2-0 win over RB Leipzig led by strong midfield control from Samantha Steuerwald.
Next: The ladies have a Pokal match against Frankfurt, plus league matches agaisnt Duisburg, Bremen. and (ugh) Bayern Munich. Meanwhile the men will balance four league games (including matches against Dortmund and Frankfurt) with the critical knockout matches for the Europa league against Lens.
Grenoble’s Games
Record: 0 – 3 – 1 GF: 5 GA: 7
Amine Sbai had a tremendous outing against Dunkerque with a pair of goals giving the men from the mountains a big lead with only 25 minutes to play. Uncharacteristically, the defense capitulated at the end of the game and could only hold on for a draw. Then the familiar winter malaise set in, and the squad managed only draws the rest of the month (1-1 against Auxerre, and 1-1 against Quevilly, due in large part to heroic penalty saves from Brice Mableu, and more Amine Sbai goals)
Meanwhile the women’s team got eaten up by AS Cannes concending three goals for a less than stellar return to the field, but Abdoulie Bamba Sanyang got the chance to play at the Africa Cup of Nations with Gambia, and team training seem to include playing on the alps…which looks like a whole heap of fun!
Up Next: January was not the boost we were hoping for in the quest for promotion, but we’ll try again in February! The women will face Lyon’s 2nd Squad, and Le Puy, while the men try to break out of their funk of draws with games against Caen, Bordeaux, Troyes and Pau.
Punjab Zindabad
Record: 0 – 2 – 1 GF: 3 GA: 4
Wilmar Jordan got off the mark a lot faster in 2024 than he did in 2023, scoring just 4 minutes into the road game at Chennaiyin in the Super Cup. But, as has been so often the case, after a red card, they were at a disadvantage even though they had a lead. And just when it looked like they might pull out a short handed victory, another goal got past Kiran Chemjong and it was another draw for the Punjabi Warriors.
The chance of a draw against local league titans Mumbai City, was much more enthralling, and indeed Luka Macjen nearly made it so with a pair of goals including one right before the end of the full 90 minutes that would have been quite an accomplishment. But in a continuing pattern, the Warriors ceded a late goal and left as unlucky losers. Their final Super Cup match was a 0-0 draw that doesn’t bear much more scrutiny.
Up Next: I hoped that Punjab could come away with two more wins in the second half of the season, and their best chances may all come in February as they face Hydrabad (the only team below them) as well as Jamshedpur and Bengaluru (two teams with similar defensive problems).
Gotta see this, Alebrijes!
Record: 0 – 1 – 1 GF: 2 GA: 5
Whatever else happens Alebrijes deserves credit for having Mortal Kombat themed season announcement.
While that post is cool and fresh and there are high hopes for new attacker Orlando Ballesteros and major needs in Pablo martinez and Alfonso Luna, much of Alebrijes’ start to their season looked…familiar. The 3-0 beating from Cancun was painfully familiar, and the 2-2 draw with goals by Julio Cesar Cruz rendered underwhelming by late conceded goals was…sigh…yeah…very familiar.
Next We cross our fingers and hope for some kind of change in the routine as Alebrijes run out five times in February…hey, that’s alliteration…it must be a good sign (he said without much real hope)
County’s Bounty
Record: 0 – 1 – 3 GF: 2 GA: 9
Ross County’s usual course of action at this time of year is to bring in a host of young talents who need some match time and use them to boost the squad’s energy. Midfielders Eli King of Cardiff, Branon Khela of Birmingham, Teddy Jenks of Forest Green, Loick Ayina of Huddersfield Town, and Keeper George Wickens of Fulham are this year’s crop of young talents. But the club’s big acquisition was left back Cameron Borthwick Jackson who, until 3 years ago, seemed to be a up-and-coming player at global powerhouse Manchester United…now he is in Dingwall, so, maybe not so up any more but still a player with oodles of potential.
That potential was sorely lacking in the Stags’ 3-0 loss to Aberdeen with Jack Baldwin getting sent off in the 90th minute. It was arguably in even shorter supply when they got dumped out of the league cup 3-0 by lower level rivals Partick Thistle. By comparison a 1-0 loss at Celtic Park was an accomplishment. (thank you for that big save George Wickens!) and the team’s most recent result of a 2-2 draw against Livingston (with some strong defense and a pair of goals from Simon Murray before another late capitulation) was positively delightful.
Next: It seems as though manager Derek Adams strategy of saying that players are really bad hasn’t inspired good play…interesting. Maybe insulting people will make them feel better as they play six times in four weeks…or…not…
Griz Biz
Record: Not in action
We watched the Griz gridiron squad play well in the first half of their national championship game, and missed the second half (which was for the best). And you got to have some extra potato chips so…really there’s a silver lining. We also got to see Skyleigh Thompson celebrate her All-American status.
Up next: Recruiting, training and warming up the next generations.
What’s in Store at Rosenborg?
Record: Not in Action
There was a lot of player movement in and out of Trondheim, but the big news is probably Steinar Lein stepping away from his role as head coach of the women’s team. He’s run the squad for five years and seen them become an absolute force, but when people need a break, they should get it. So thanks Steinar and stay well!
Rosenborg named Anna Josensdal it’s female player of the year, and also said goodbye to her in the same breath, as she makes a move to Hammarby in Sweden (where she’ll meet up with old friend Sara Kanutte Fornes). Rasmus Wiedesheim Paul also joined a Swedish H-team (Halmstad) in Sweden. Ina Birkelund joins up for the midfield from Tromso.
Next: The men have a host of friendlies against fellow Norwegian clubs, but won’t start the season until April
Minnesota a la Mode…ah
Record: Not in Action
Aurora had try outs which means, even five months from the start of the next season, there’s plenty to be excited about. Just as esciting, former Auroroa player Kelsey Kaufusi was drafted to the NWSL (the top Women’s league in America).
Meanwhile, the Loons lost another manager. After not committing to Sean McAuley, Sean McAuley wouldn’t commit to the team, leaving for a confirmed contract in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, Cameron Knowles will take over…for now…When it came to players the Loons focused on adding to the squad with defenders Derek Dodson, and Victor Eriksson, forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith, and midfielders Alejandro Bran and Moses Nyeman.
Up Next: After some regular tune up matches, the Loons hit the field against Austin FC at the end of February
Take a Sec with Emelec
Record: Not in Action
The mens team did do quite a lot of shopping for their roster. They started by resigning Pedro Ortiz to mind the net and Fernando Leon. Then there were they incomers:
Forward: Facundo Castelli,
Wingers: Maicon Solis, Juan Pablo Ruiz Gomez, Washington Corozco and Rodrigo Rivero
Midfielder: Marcelo Meli, Andres Ricahrte, Christian Erbes, and club legend Christhian Noboa…(get ready, I’m probably going to mention him as often as Miller Bolanos!)
Defenders Alexander Gonzalez, Joao Quinonez, and Gustavo Cortez,
Up Next: The Men’s team’s first season starts soon with matches against Deportivo Cuenca and Mushuc Runa.
What’s the haps at Vozdovac?
Record: Not in action
Vozdovac opened the year knowing that Borisav Burmaz was leaving the club…now headed off for the top flight of soccer in Romania with Rapid Bucharest. Meanwhile, they brought in seven new players, none of whom is older than 22.
Next: The Dragons take flight again with Red Star Belgrade and two more league matches (Napredak, and Mladost Lucani)
Players of the Month
Instead of honoring one player each week, we’ll take some time to shout out a player from each team that was in action each month. January’s honorees are
Nicholas Mensah (D) Legon Cities, Vincenzo Grifo (M) Freiburg, Samantha Steuerwald (DM) Freiburg, Amine Sbai (F) Grenoble, Claudia Fabre (F) Grenoble, Luka Macjen (F) Punjab, Julio Cesar Cruz (F) Alebrijes, George Wickens (K) Ross County
Standings
It’s early days and one match shouldn’t be taken as predictive of anything other than one match, but we’d deeply love for someone, literally anyone to play as well as Legon Cities did…or at least get fewer draws.
MacKenzie's Boot Room 