Merry Christmas to the U.S. fans!

We would like to wish you a happy holiday season and would like to check in with some of the work done by our successful Americans in the English Premier League.

First, DeAndre Yedlin was dropped for last weekend's game at Chelsea. That happened after he was taken off the pitch after 19 minutes the week before in a loss to Watford.

Said blogger Colin Randall: DeAndre Yedlin, 3 -- After promising shows in previous games, Yedlin lasted less than 19 minutes, managing at least twice to give the ball away in dangerous positions.

Moving to Merseyside, Everton fans are trying to figure out who they want to replace Tim Howard. Howard was booked for bringing down Jamie Vardy in the box for a penalty and the Toffees were beaten 3-2 by the best team in England last week. His lame effort came after this ill-advised attempt to use Twitter.

Everton fans in Australia want him off the team.   Howard may best be advised to re-join MLS in order to avoid coverage like this media speculation. 

Over in the basement, at least Brad Guzan is playing better than he did back in October.  He has allowed 31 goals in 17 games, though mostly because he plays on such a terrible team. Aston Villa are winless in their last 16 games and look utterly hopeless.

And don't expect to see Geoff Cameron play over the holidays either. 

In the Championship, Jonathan Spector is playing well in defence for Birmingham City and Tim Ream recently returned to face his old club, wretched Bolton Wanderers, in a 2-2 draw.  Ream was last seen by your faithful blogger playing for Bolton in January in happier times for the club.

We will have a year-end review for our loyal blog readers before the new year. Thank you for your support since we wouldn't exist without you!

Looking for a team in Germany to root for?

Berlin's secret weapon to draw top footballers

Football fans in the States are always looking to support a team in the Premier League.  Many Americans choose to support Chelsea. How is that working out?

It may be more rewarding to pick a team in Germany to root for. Once good choice is Hertha BSC, the official club of this blog. Hertha are in third place in the Bundesliga and are widely considered one of the world's best teams.

One reason to root for Hertha is that Berlin is the cake capital of the world, according to this Twitter account. For 2.70 euros, you can get a slice of the above cake.

With Hertha, you can have your cake and eat it too!

Why do Bayer never score?

We would like to highlight an excellent piece written by the fine folks over at sports information powerhouse STATS. It's about why Bayer Leverkusen - who were recently beaten 2-1 by Hertha BSC - have struggled to score most of the season until the last two matches. It's the kind of intelligent, analytical writing that this blog favours and we wanted to pass it along to our loyal followers!

He's back folks!

With all the talk of whether Jurgen Klinsmann should be fired, a major U.S. soccer story may have slipped right past you. And no, if you want this blogger's honest opinion, Klinsmann shouldn't be fired because it's clear that his master plan has yet to take effect and the real issue is that our players aren't sophisticated enough in their football to grasp his methods.

But we digress, the real important story in U.S. soccer was Freddy Adu pledging allegiance for another season in Tampa Bay. So sorry Atlanta or LA FC fans, you can't have him - at least not yet.

And don't think Tampa Bay is done there. As competitor to this blog Soccer by Ives noted in the above link:

The Adu announcement, which was originally reported by Sports Illustrated, comes on the heels of another big offseason move for the Rowdies, who announced on Monday that the club had signed forward Tom Heinemann, formerly of Ottawa Fury FC.

So there you have it. Adu and St. Louis native Heinemann are off to the Bay.

Any questions? What are your thoughts on how you think Freddy and Tom will combine for the Rowdies? Who should Tampa Bay get next? Another guy from St. Louis? Jermaine Jones?  Leave your thoughts below!

Champions League analysis

The draw has been conducted and IMOTGP is here to answer all your questions about the Round of 16.

Chelsea v. Paris St-Germain

ANALYSIS: These teams have met in each of the last two years, with PSG playing a man down and prevailing in a tense second leg last season. Chelsea look like relegation fodder in England while PSG has a 17-point lead in France so this looks like a mismatch.

PREDICTION: PSG 5, Chelsea 1.

Arsenal v. Barcelona

ANALYSIS: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

PREDICTION: Barcelona 4, Arsenal 2

Roma v. Real Madrid

ANALYSIS: Rudi Garcia thinks this is a 'nice draw' for Roma. The question is whether he will be around to coach in this tie. Remember the UCL is where Rafa Benitez shines and Roma usually suffers embarrassment.

PREDICTION: Real Madrid 8, Roma 1

Juventus v. Bayern Munich

ANALYSIS: Who knew Juve's failure to get a draw in Seville would result in this? Bayern aren't happy about it.  Arturo Vidal and Kingsley Coman will return to Turin and face a club that is slowly but surely displaying the form they showed in last season's UCL.

PREDICTION: UPSET SPECIAL - Juventus 4, Bayern Munich 3.

Benfica v. Zenit St. Petersburg

ANALYSIS: The major storyline is that Axel Witsel will return to Portugal along with boss Andres Villas-Boas and company. Zenit is the real deal as they showed with five wins in the group stage and Benfica will crumble.

PREDICTION: Zenit 3, Benfica 1

Dynamo Kiev v. Manchester City

ANALYSIS: City's ability to top the 'Group of Death' resulted in a favourable matchup with the first leg in an empty stadium. There is only one result possible in this tie.

PREDICTION: City 5, Kiev 0

PSV v. Atletico Madrid

ANALYSIS: How many people know that the 2014 finalists are currently joint top of La Liga on points? And that's despite all the players the Atleti have lost over the years. PSV are a game challenge but Cholo Simeone's side will be ready.

PREDICTION: Atletico 3, PSV 1

Gent v. Wolfsburg

ANALYSIS: Neither team has been this far before and Wolfsburg are favoured. After the first leg, the Wolves have a tricky trip to face European powerhouse Hertha BSC so that's a challenge. We like the Germans to prevail.

PREDICTION: Wolfsburg 4, Gent 2

Trivia Answers

There were no winners in the comments section on our trivia quiz from last week so no one won the prize to see Barcelona play in the Club World Cup.  Here are the answers:

1. The father of this Fabian played for Bayern Munich - in basketball. Which Fabian?


ANSWER: Fabian Johnson

2. This Fabian shined in a preseason win over Inter Milan.  Which Fabian?


ANSWER: Fabian Benko

3. This Fabian began his career for Bayern Munich's arch rival - 1860 Munich.  Which Fabian?


ANSWER: Fabian Johnson


4. This Fabian was born in Bavaria.  Which Fabian?


ANSWER: Trick question. Both Fabians are Bavarian-born.

5. Fabian Johnson just completed the UEFA Champions League group stage while Fabian Benko competed for Bayern Munich's team in the group stage of the UEFA Youth League. This Fabian's team totaled more points in its group stage. Which Fabian?


ANSWER: Fabian Johnson (Gladbach amassed five points, Benko's team only managed one draw at press time of this quiz).

6. This Fabian has scored more goals in UEFA competition this season. Which Fabian?


ANSWER: Fabian Johnson (he scored two and Benko scored one)

7. This Fabian's contract ends in June of 2016.  Which Fabian?

ANSWER: Fabian Benko

Still too Green for the top level!

The United States football fan was no doubt excited to see Julian Green play for Bayern Munich on Wednesday night in their 2-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, an utterly meaningless match which is why Green started and lasted 62 minutes.

Well it turns out Green was mostly a flop. According to sports information powerhouse STATS, he had the fewest touches of a Bayern player in the first half with five "bad passes" out of 15 for a horrific ratio. Pep Guardiola brought on Arturo Vidal to replace him.

Further analysis shows how useless and skilless Green was, as detailed in this Bayern think piece about the trip to Croatia. 

A year on loan has changed Julian Green’s drive for the game. His will and work rate cannot overcome the clear gaps in his skills though. He struggled to create a good chance from the right wing, and did not have the movement to establish a presence in the penalty area.

Fear not U.S. fans, at least the national team is in the right hands with Jurgen Klinsmann doing a masterful job as well as Sunil Gulati continuing to prove his competence at running the organization.

Do you know your Bundesliga Fabians?

On Saturday, Borussia Monchengladbach defeated Bayern Munich in a Bundesliga stunner. Most Bundesliga fans know Fabian Johnson, who stars for Jurgen Klinsmann's high-flying United States team which has enjoyed unprecedented success resulting in him gaining lifetime status as coach.

But did you know Bayern Munich have their own Fabian?  That's right, the German champions have Fabian Benko - who will see some action in Wednesday's hugely important completely useless Champions League matchup with Dynamo Zagreb.

Let's test your knowledge on these studs with our fun IMOTGP game - Which Fabian?

1. The father of this Fabian played for Bayern Munich - in basketball. Which Fabian?

2. This Fabian shined in a preseason win over Inter Milan.  Which Fabian?

3. This Fabian began his career for Bayern Munich's arch rival - 1860 Munich.  Which Fabian?

4. This Fabian was born in Bavaria.  Which Fabian?

5. Fabian Johnson just completed the UEFA Champions League group stage while Fabian Benko competed for Bayern Munich's team in the group stage of the UEFA Youth League. This Fabian's team totaled more points in its group stage. Which Fabian?

6. This Fabian has scored more goals in UEFA competition this season. Which Fabian?

7. This Fabian's contract ends in June of 2016.  Which Fabian?

We will provide the answers in a future post. For now, watch FOX Soccer to go to see Fabian Benko make his fabulous Champions League debut Wednesday!

CONCACAF getting it done on the big stage!

It was an amazing Saturday of mouth-watering football for the CONCACAF football fan with numerous stars of the region on display in Europe. Let's see how some of our key stalwarts fared.

The day began in the Premier League, where Stoke City shocked Manchester City 2-0, with United States defender Geoff Cameron feeding to Xherdan Shaqiri who found Marko Arnautovic for the second tally ...

Staying in the Premier League, Costa Rican sensation Joel Campbell victimized United States defender for the opener in London as champions-to-be Arsenal took down Sunderland 3-1. U.S fans may want to hide their eyes for this one.

In Germany, Bayern Munich were stunned by Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1. Fabian 'FabJo' Johnson helped in the build-up to Oscar Wendt's opener before he put the outcome to rest with the third when he did this ...

In the IMOTGP featured match of the day sponsored by the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, we had a matchup worthy of the US.-Mexico rivalry when Bayer Leverkusen and Mexican ace Chicharito took on Hertha Berlin and star U.S. defender John Anthony Brooks.

The Berliners dominated and were up a goal and a man until Chicharito had his say ...

A 1-1 draw was on the cards and Hertha had not scored off a corner kick all season until Brooks stepped up to the plate, sending U.S. fans into joyous raptures. ...

Meanwhile, Keylor Navas picked up another victory for Real Madrid in La Liga while Brad Guzan helped Aston Villa seize a rare EPL point. It was all welcome news for CONCACAF after the acting president was arrested at a Swiss hotel.We hope this cheered him up!

And we are down to eight, that's great!

Are you eligible for some December football?

As we near the end of the calendar year, it's time once more to celebrate the world's most exciting football tournament - the NCAA College Cup!

We are down to the quarterfinals and we have some great matchups - Wake Forest against Stanford, Clemson-Maryland, BC-Syracuse And Akron-Creighton. Let's break down the matchups.

No. 1 Wake v. No. 8 Stanford

We will pick the Cardinal in an upset in this one. Jordan Morris scored a brace last weekend for Stanford and Jurgen Klinsmann's favourite son will help Stanford take this one.

No. 2 Clemson v. No. 10 Maryland.

These former ACC rivals are meeting at Clemson, where low ticket sales have the school deciding to allow people in for free with a football or basketball ticket. We like the Terps in an upset since we never bet against Sasho Cirovski.

No. 4 Akron v. No. 12 Creighton

The Big East champion Bluejays have been a fraud all season and knocked off UNC despite a 21-9 disadvantage in shots. Jared Embick is the coach of the Zips and a better coach than Jurgen Klinsmann so we like him in this Midwestern matchup.

Boston College v. No. 6 Syracuse

This is the surprise matchup of this round, with the Orange never reaching the Elite Eight before while the Eagles are here for only the third time and have never gone further. We like a 2-2 draw and Syracuse to win on penalty kicks!

Debt free and headed for the Champions League!!!

One of the biggest stories in European football has been the surprising rise of Hertha BSC, the official club of this blog. The Old Lady of German football is sitting in fifth place in the table with three matches left before the winter break.

Even bigger news came this week when it was announced that Hertha are moving closer to being debt-free.  As followers of this blog may remember, American private equity firm KKR was brought in to manage the debt.  Aren't these companies great?

Well KKR has done its job and rest be assured, Hertha are on the upswing. In fact, the team can climb as high as third by beating underachieving Bayer Leverkusen this weekend. The Champions League is surely within sight and once the final debts are taken care of, Hertha can spend, spend, spend their way to glory and join Europe's footballing elite!

U.S. is on a learning curve!

Good news for followers of the United States national team! Coach Jurgen Klinsmann has again provided his wide-ranging views on the state of the team in an insightful interview! 

The German genius masterminded a win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines (or is that two wins?) and a draw with Trinidad & Tobago (or is that two draws) in World Cup qualifying. He is excited about the direction of the program.

“For a coach it becomes very challenging to analyze every piece of it, what went right and what went wrong. From that point of view, 2015 was a good learning curve for us,” Klinsmann said.

Once again, he pointed out that refereeing decisions in the Gold Cup cost the United States a chance to defeat Jamaica.

“The fact that we lost the semifinal to Jamaica in the Gold Cup – no matter how you can argue with the referee’s decisions – was an experience that the players need to go through," he said. "They need to be – and we coaches as well – critical about what we did, what mistakes did we make individually and as a whole team, and what led to the disappointment in not winning it.”

The coach also pointed to wins over Germany and the Netherlands as benchmark wins, though the United States did not receive any major hardware for winning that tournament. Germany have lost five times since the World Cup and also drew Ireland and Australia at home. Netherlands failed to qualify for the Euros for the first time since 1984.

In other U.S. news, star forward Gyasi Zardes is hearing offers from big-time clubs.