Reading and the USMNT’s Bobby Convey has been sidelined for the rest of the year thanks to the knee injury he sustained during the World Cup. He had surgery on it in December, but it seems that he’s still having trouble with it. During the USA-Mexico game Bruce Arena, et al. wouldn’t shut up about how he just wasn’t up to snuff. What with a knee injury and all, that now makes a little more sense, though his selection by interim coach Bob Bradley doesn’t (sorry, couldn’t resist the interim stab).

This shouldn’t hurt Reading too much as Convey really hasn’t been able to contribute much of anything throughout the last few months and yet the club is still 6th in the Premiership. I wouldn’t have bet on that being the case in September, especially without Convey, who is slightly underrated in my opinion. Bradley, of course, knows that he’s good and thus his inclusion in the full NT and hopefully he takes this as a cue to leave Convey out of the side until the last possible moment before the Copa America.

Convey should stay on the sidelines until he is 100% healthy and able to make a full comeback rather than staggering around the pitch and causing issues for his own team with his lack of speed and touch. The Copa America is a tough challenge and it’s not going to get any easier if Convey isn’t up to his full strength. After all, the US is in the toughest group of the three and will have to really show up if they want to have any hope of advancing to the knockout stages.

Possession: 29% Valencia – Barcelona 71%

Shots on goal: 3 Valencia – Barcelona 3

Yellow cards: 3 Valencia – Barcelona 5

Red Cards: 1 Valencia – 1 Barcelona

So you know it was a contentious game. Deco and Albelda were sent off during in the 62nd minute for rash challenges, though I don’t think Deco deserved it.

Here’s the live blog, after the jump. I’ll post a discussion of it later.

SECOND HALF LIVE BLOG

45: the game begins again with a series of passes around the midfield before Morientes get it along the touchline and then out for a dangerous throw, which is subsequently cleared deep and the punted out for a Barça goal kick. The game is bogged down in the midfield quite effectively as each team is trying to feel the other out.

49: Marchena picks up a yellow card for a foul on Marquez and he can’t believe it, but Marquez did take a pretty nice tumble. Looked deserved, but it may have gone to the wrong man.

50: The game is becoming a dogfight in midfield as players are going in harder and harder. Both teams are defending well.

51: Iniesta creates space and the cross is…cut out by 3 defenders.

52: Valencia counter attack and Villa is millimeters away from beating Valdez to the ball. The game is picking up some pace, but the Barcelona turn it over again and the break is on for Valencia. GOAL! The Barcelona defense just stood there and watched as the ball was slid across their box and Angulo calmly slipped between everyone and side-footed home. Easiest goal of his career. This should bring some life to the game now.

53: Barcelona aren’t going to rush things and you can see it already, but they’re not going to sit back and take it. Another card for Valencia as Zambrotta is sent tumbling by Albiol. Deco takes the free kick and it’s a dangerous one…met by absolutely no one.

55: Valencia counter attack and the ball bounces around the box as Valdez can’t grab the ball. GOAL! Silva shoots into the empty net and it’s 2-0. Gudjohnsen goes off and Messi is in. Barça now have to press the matter if they want back in this game.

57: Valencia have appeals for a dangerous free kick turned away and Barcelona control again. They’re certainly attacking now. The ball is around the edge and a chance goes begging for Ronnie as he can’t turn on it fast enough. Free kick to Barça is swung in and fisted away.

58: The action has certainly picked up, but Barça look exposed at the back, not for the first time this season and Morientes misses what should have been a goal as he was one-on-one with Valdez. The counterattack is working to perfection for Los Che.

60: Deco shoots wide from a tough angle. He hits the back of the side netting, but not really much danger there as the keeper had it covered anyway.

61: And there’s almost a fight as a couple of tough tackles occur in midfield and players are reacting angrily. I can’t tell who was first involved, but they were some rough tackles and it looks like a player may be off. But who? TWO players are gone and it’s Deco and Albelda…and Puyol gets a yellow for protesting. The replays show that Albelda definitely should go, but Deco at most deserved a yellow. Rash play by both, but Albelda came in from behind on Messi in a disgusting display very reminiscent of Beckham. Now there will be more room to play.

63: This is getting out of hand. Messi doesn’t pass the ball out of bounds as a Valencia player is lying injured and Butelle (keeper) runs out to shove him after he loses possession. He gets a yellow for his troubles and several players are pushing and shoving a little. Valencia make a defensive substitution.

65: More room means longer passing and that, I would think, favors Barcelona, but they’re giving up a lot of size to Valencia, who are a surprisingly big squad. Marquez doesn’t care, though, as he flies in again and again on tackles.

66: good build up, but Iniesta’s cross is right to the defense. Messi is causing trouble with his pace, but fires wide with his left from 35 yards. Will we see Eto’o?

68: Ronaldinho gets a yellow that was pretty well deserved after leading with his elbow while protecting the ball. Giuly and Joaquin get ready to come in.

70: Valencia are just defending in massive numbers, putting 9 behind the ball and daring Barcelona to come at them with everything they’ve got. Barcelona are not afraid and are playing hard and looking for the right ball through. It’ll come at this rate, but they need 2. A cross into the box is met by a Valencia head and there was never danger there.

71: Ronnie almost gets in, but is sandwiched by two defenders. Edmilson turns the ball over in his half and Marquez recovers for him, forcing a throw.

72: Villa off, replaced by Joaquin.

73: Messi is battling with everything he has, as always. Great to see him back and he’s a talent, there’s no doubt about that. Gets tossed to the ground and wins a kick…which Barça give away. Ronnie just isn’t his old self and I’m wondering if we’ll ever see him this year.

74: Joaquin gets into the action by getting steamrolled by Zambrotta, who is another one of those fearless defenders. Where was this grit when it was 0-0?

75: Free kick on the very edge of the box as Ronnie and Messi play a little 1-2 and Pulga is dumped to the ground. This could be a huge moment in the game. If Barça score here it’s going to change things. 15 minutes left.

76: …Ronnie to take the kick…blasted off the wall and the rebound is whiffed by Ronnie’s left. And Valencia are breaking. Wide open is Morientes, but he can’t do anything with it as Puyol covers well. Wasted chances by both teams in that 20 second span.

77: Throw for Valencia deep in Barça territory…they’re not just passing it around the back, as if they know Barça is a dangerous side…wounded lion in so many ways. Ronnie with space certainly wins a free kick but nothing is called. He got sliced to the ground!

78: Valencia are just defending too well and they’re going to win this game on the back of two good goals. Barça keep sliding balls across the box on the ground and that’s not going to get them anything.

79: Ronnie loses it after a nice little run. Should have passed to Messi. Ronnie has to watch that second card for diving.

80: Out for a corner as Oleguer makes a mistake at the back. A shot of Villa on the bench getting a splint put on his right calf.

81: Ronnie and Messi combine down the right, but lose it again at the last defender. A consolation goal is really all there is time for at this point. I just can’t agree with keeping Saviola on the bench. He’s better than Gudjohnsen and that’s that.

82: There is no last touch for Barça…Valencia are bigger and faster it looks like and they’re dominating the counterattack… MESSI IS BRILLIANT as he slices by 3 defenders one after the other…before losing it on the final ball.

83: Free kick as Messi is brought down AGAIN near the box.

84: The free kick is taken to quickly and they’ll have to reset. It was a great look from Marquez as he saw Xavi alone in the box and onside. The kick is off the wall again and then Ronnie does some brilliance but is called for a handball. Valencia’s final sub: Silva out, Jorge Lopez in.

85: Morientes is about 8 miles offside and Giuly can’t quite get to the quickly taken kick. Posession 68% Barcelona 32% Valencia. They’ve just made it count.

87: Barcelona can’t even get a shot on goal, or even a shot not on goal. They’ve got nothing on this defense right now. Scary prospect for their CL game. Finally a shot and it’s dragged wide from a great position by Xavi. The ball was skipping as it came to him and was a hard ball to hit. Only a miracle will save a point now.

88: Corner to Barça, taken quickly and crossed right to Butelle. No creativity displayed there.

89: Iniesta fakes a little bump and gets booked for it. Collision in the box on the restart as Zambrotta falls and slides into Butelle. Completely accidental. In fact, he was shoved into the keeper by the defender.

90: Last minute of regulation and there is no way Barcelona win this game. 4 minutes of stoppage, but it’s not enough. They need 15 to make a difference here, perhaps a fresh 90.

91: well a free kick by the semi circle and they could salvage a goal and some pride here if they can net this one. They’re taking forever to set it up and it’s clear they know this one is over.

92: Finally the kick is taken…45 seconds off the clock. GOAL! What a free kick and there is a little hope. Ronaldinho just whipped it around the wall and the keeper was poaching to the wrong side. What a kick!

94: And there’s no time left, but they fight gamely on. Good show here at the end from Barça, but now Valencia are wasting time. Replays of the goal show that the wall was scared of the ball. Fair enough. One last attack coming from Barcelona. And that’s it, it’s over. Ronnie looks pissed, the Valencia players know they’ve won a battle. Perhaps this will help against Liverpool? It’s hard to say, but they’ll be going into the game with something to prove. Deco is out for a few games with that red card and that’s harsh for Barcelona, but it could open the way for Eto’o to get more playing time.

Now to the previews:

What could have been, but wasn’t, could be again in many ways for the blaugrana. They travel to the Mestalla to take on 4^th place Valencia on Sunday (1pmET) and then host Liverpool for the first leg of the first round of the Champions League knockout stages on Tuesday (2:45pmET on ESPN2). After that it’s another home game, this time against relegation battlers Athletic Bilbao. After that the torrid pace continues with Barça traveling to Zaragoza for their Copa del Rey second leg encounter (Zaragoza lead 0-1 after the first leg in Barcelona), which is followed up by trips to Sevilla (March 4) in La Liga then Liverpool for the return leg of the CL match (March 6), and then it all comes to a thrilling climax (one hopes) with Real Madrid visiting Barça for the second half of El Clasico on March 11. Wow! Fantastic, really, but also somewhat scary with the team looking a little out of sorts (discussed below, after the jump).

Obviously the domestic implications are not as serious as those in Europe in the short term, but it’s still going to be cracking couple of weekends in a row in La Liga despite the teams maybe looking ahead a little to their European matches in midweek.

Here’s a quick table of who plays who in La Liga up until the March 11 Clasico (table positions are in parentheses before each team):

February 17/18 should be the best of the weekends, but there’s only a little letdown on the 26^th since there’s the Madrid derby to watch. The Spanish teams in the CL are all facing tough tests midweek (Valencia-InterMilan; Real Madrid-Bayern Munic), but only Barcelona are still in the Copa del Rey.

Much more after the jump.

Predictions for this weekend’s Liga games:

Valencia 1 – 1 Barcelona: with both teams looking ahead there won’t be that much pressure and Eto’o and Messi could see some extra playing time. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Messi start, but Eto’o getting more than 10 minutes would be very odd indeed, especially after what transpired over this past week (again, discussed below). I’m not happy about this “turmoil,” especially after the complete domination of Santander on Sunday suggested Barcelona were stepping back up to their best, but it could potentially cause the team to go out on the field on Sunday with a little chip on their shoulders and really have a good go at Valencia. Roberto Ayala, for his part, apparently hopes they can score three (English) on Barcelona. Good luck with that.

Real Madrid 1 – 1 Real Betis: Betis haven’t lost in 7 competitive matches (4 in La Liga, 3 in the Copa del Rey) and have tied Madrid twice during that span (Copa del Rey 1^st and 2^nd legs, 0-0 and 1-1 respectively with Betis moving ahead on away goals); Betis have also tied Sevilla twice already this month. Madrid, on the other hand, have been struggling a little as of late, losing 2 of their last 3 including a home loss to 16^th-place Levante and needing to come from behind to win at 20^th-place Real Sociedad. So it’s a pretty good guess that another draw is coming.

Sevilla 2 – 0 Atlético Madrid: I just can’t see Sevilla falling at home and with a two away goal advantage against Steaua Bucuresti going into the second leg on Thursday of their UEFA Cup tie, they should be able to focus on the league a little more than their fellow table-toppers. That said, Atlético is a solid team with loads of talent and as long as they can avoid fighting each other (Spanish), they have a shot at finishing in the top 4 this year. It could turn into an interesting game, but somehow I doubt it.

Over the next 24 days:

Potential wins: 7

Potential league points: 12

Potential in the Champions League: Quarterfinals

Potential in the Copa del Rey: Semifinals

Okay, now quickly to the news. Everyone knows about Eto’o’s foolish statements to the press and they don’t really deserve more airtime, as it were, on the blogosphere. More words won’t clarify anything other than the fact that Eto’o is a loose cannon in terms of speaking to the press. He’s also, by the way, an f-ing fantastic striker. That, I think, counts for a lot more than the little spat going on. What also counts more is the team sheet for Sunday’s match. Messi has probably enjoyed a week not being in the spotlight, though it probably wasn’t the most relaxing week of his career, and perhaps it has helped him to prepare for a longer stint on the field (45 minutes?) than he had against Santander (20 minutes). Eto’o too should be able to play for a little bit, but again, it depends on how well Saviola is playing and what the score is towards the end.

Aston Villa is currently on a brief holiday (until March 3 when they take on Fulham), so perhaps it’s time to put together a short statistical look at Villa’s potential:

If you look at the Actim Index Top 100 there are some obvious trends that make perfect sense, especially if you accept Actim’s thought that the stats “have been statistically proven to measure a player’s effectiveness in winning matches.” In case you don’t have time to click that link here’s basically all it says, “Actim is the brand name for the official data of the FA Premier League, The Football League and the Scottish Premier League.” Anyway:

* ManU has 4 players in the top 10 and all 11 of players in the top 41, Michael Carrick being the lowest.

†Chelsea’s highest players are ranked 1 and 2, but their lowest is Ashley Cole at 90^th.

‡Charlton’s only player is ranked 100^th.

Note that Villa has 5 players, 2 of whom (Barry and Agbonlahor) are in the top 25 (4^th and 24^th). One of the players, Ashley Young, obviously got ranked as high as he did (59) because of his performances for Watford in the first half of the season so it seems unfair not to put a 1 next to Watford and a 4 next to Villa.

Having that 5^th player obviously gives Villa an advantage over similarly ranked teams in the league table. Note that Newcastle, Blackburn, and Tottenham all have fewer players in the top 100 yet are higher in the table. Newcastle is 4 points ahead of Villa while Blackburn and Tottenham are ahead 2 points and 1 point respectively. So in the second half of the season (which as already begun), Villa should be better than they were thanks to the addition of Young, who outranks 2 of Newcastle’s 3 and 3 of Tottenham’s 4, but none of Blackburn’s 4 (3 of them are ranked 53^rd, 54^th, and 55^th while the other, Benni McCarthy, is ranked between Agbonlahor and Barry in 11^th). Basically, Villa have new potential they didn’t otherwise have, making the addition of Ashley Young somewhat crucial. It remains to be seen, of course, if Carew can crack the top 100 (my guess is no). Regardless, a top 10 finish is not only possible, it should be expected from a team that was willing to throw down $18million for a single player over January. It was, I believe, the largest transfer fee dished out in England over the January window and perhaps the largest in the world (some of the undisclosed deals could have been worth more, but that’s doubtful).

Group A: Venezuela, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru

Group B: Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico

Group C: Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, USA

New FIFA World Rankings are out and here are the rankings of all teams involved:

The average rank for Group A is 64.5, for Group B it’s 20, and for Group A it’s 23.

Obviously Group A is the least interesting in terms of big names and Uruguay should top that group without any serious challenge. I’m backing Venezuela to come in second simply because they’re the hosts.

Two of Group B’s teams are ranked too highly (Mexico and Ecuador), but it’s still probably the best group in terms of talent. Brazil and Mexico will be the top two teams.

Group C is going to be the best goup in terms of the actual quality of games. Paraguay, Colombia, and the USA are all underranked in the FIFA standings (technically so is Brazil) so they should play at a higher level than otherwise would be expected from the 28th, 30th, and 31st ranked teams. Argentina will top the group and I think the USA can pull out second. That’s also what I said during the WC2006, though.

Games begin June 26.

Let’s go USA!

You think it’s a typical goal celebration, but look in the background: Sanchez is becoming Enemy #1. I can’t wait till the next time we play:

The USMNT is set to face an extremely tough test this summer in its first Copa America game: Argentina. No doubt there are several parties going on already for the azulceleste win, but you can never overlook a team that is in the middle of its domestic season and thus more in form than a team whose players have just finished a long season.

Still, I don’t expect us to win if we play like did in the World Cup (and we will, since Bob Bradley is mere Bruce Arena 2.0) but there is certainly hope for us in the end.

I’ll post the full schedule when it’s out later today.

The logo for the competition we’re going to win

Hey, buddy, I’m better than you!

Damian at the Aston Villa Blog pointed out that the new Actim stats place Gareth Barry as the 4th best player in the Premiership as of February 7.

Just so you don’t have to search: Agbonlahor is 24th, Ashley Young is 59th (no doubt based on his performances at Watford), Olof Melberg is 62nd, and Liam Ridgewell is 95th. The stats don’t go beyond 100, but you can rest assured that Villa is pushing very hard to get more people in that upper echelon of Premiership players…

Interesting note: Villa accounts for 1/20 of the total number of players in the Premiership (one would assume) and they account for exactly 1/20 of the players in the top 100 Actim standings (5, for the math impaired). I’m not going to count them all, but I’m pretty sure that means Villa is right around average. (Chelsea have 10, ManU have 11 aka an entire team, and Wigan have 2 while West Ham and Watford have none now that Ashley Young left the latter…)

[update: a more thorough analysis of Villa's Actim stats]

According to Soccer Mad in America, Eto’o was the one who decided he wouldn’t play in Sunday’s game against Racing Santander.  How can anyone say that’s a bad move? If a player says he’s not ready to play in a 2-0 game that is obviously already decided, then it’s a good thing he said he needs another couple of days of training to get back to 100%.

He only played for five minutes last week, and with no playing time today, how ready can he really be for Liverpool?

Understandable for AC to ask that question, but in Eto’o's defense, what would 5 minutes do to help him? I know that there is no substitute for match experience, but he’ll get more minutes in the next game (at Valencia on Sunday 2/18) unless it is a tight match. It’s doubtful he’ll play many minutes against Liverpool (Wednesday 2/21) regardless of how much time he could have had today or will get on Sunday. Messi will play against Liverpool, barring any injuries set backs (cross all fingers and toes please!), but Eto’o I think will be held out because it’s too important a game to risk using him.

Just a thought…

Soccernet’s take.

BBC’s take.

In related news, Randy Lerner has apparently never heard of Manchester United:

“It baffles me. If someone could tell me how to make a profit from a football club, I’d like to know!”

Perhaps this is why the Browns aren’t doing so hot.