Short-handed Gladbach revive Champions League qualification hopes

Borussia Monchengladbach were rooted to the bottom of their Champions League table. They had stalwarts Thorgen Hazard and Raffael out with injuries as well as United States superstar Fabian Johnson while Mahmoud Dahoud started on the bench for their Wednesday trip to Glasgow to face Celtic. None of that mattered as the Fohlenelf rolled to a 2-0 victory that silenced the Bhoys' faithful and boosted qualification hopes.

After a Matchday 1 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, Gladbach looked doomed in the Group of Death.  Blowing a lead at home against a Lionel Messi-less Barcelona on Matchday 2 made that fate even likelier.

Now Andre Schubert's side could leapfrog City with three points at home against Celtic provided Manchester City do not win in England against Barca that same day. In that scenario, Borussia could now advance with three points in a Nov. 23 rematch with City.

It's all conjecture at this point but this was an inspired showing by the Foals. Lars Stindl and Andre Hahn proved too much for Celtic to handle after the Scottish champs gave City the business in a 3-3 Celtic Park thriller that had them looking the likelier of the two sides for a Europa League berth.

Instead Borussia turned on the style and made their hosts impotent, seizing on two Kolo Toure errors for their goals even though in truth they were the better side throughout. It was the kind of away performance rarely seen by Gladbach.

"We're fearless at home – we play with a high tempo and we're always looking for the quickest route to goal," Schubert told Bundesliga.com. "In the opponents' penalty area, we look for one-on-one situations and try to get shots on goal. When we're away, though, our attacks break down, or we just pass the ball from one side of the pitch to another." 

Last season, Gladbach took four points off Bayern Munich and visit the Allianz Arena this weekend. They could prove to be the bogey side again to the Bundesliga's best.

Said Hahn: "We know we’re a team who can give Bayern problems."

Need an Aspirin? Bayer 04 Do After Another Champions League Draw

Yet once again, Bayer Leverkusen were fit to be tied in the Champions League after a 0-0 draw Tuesday at the BayArena against an injury-plagued and underwhelming Tottenham Hotspur squad. Three draws in three games leave the Werkself third on three points - which easily could be nine.

To refresh, Roger Schmidt's men squandered a two-goal lead in the Group E opener at home against CSKA. Then they nursed a 1-0 lead in France until Monaco's Kamil Glik struck with the last kick of a 1-1 draw on Matchday 2.  Bayer held shot advantages of 18-8 and 10-6 in those games.

That only foretold the story of a matchup with Spurs lacking injured talisman Harry Kane while Son Heung-min made his return to the club that made him famous. You will recall this blogger's trip to Ukraine to see the great Son in action.

Although the Londoners had more of the possession and the stronger of play in the first half, Leverkusen held a final 16-5 edge in shots and piled on the pressure in the second half with Hugo Lloris coming up big for Spurs. No bigger was Lloris' save on Chicharito in the 58th minute although the Mexican missed a good chunk of open net for a shot that the 'keeper barely kept from going over the line.

So an uphill battle remains for Bayer to qualify with road games against Spurs and CSKA along with a home matchup with Monaco.  Questions will be asked of Schmidt, who received plaudits from the English media even though his club is in 10th in the Bundesliga and yet to win a Champions League match.

Why Stefan Kießling was allowed to go the full 90 was a good question considering his final 15-20 minutes left plenty to desire and he wasn't that great before that, either. Kießling has only played in three league matches and has yet to score. The same question goes as to why Julian Brandt received only five minutes to make an impact.  Hakan Calhanoglu didn't make the most of his start before giving way to Julian Baumgartlinger at the break.

The lone positive was Leverkusen's first clean sheet against an English foe in 17 Champions League matches. They also have three straight at the BayArena, blanking Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund.

Nobody Respects the MLS

Who knew that there is one week of football left in the MLS. And the big story in the league was how 45-year-old Didier Drogba refused to play for Montreal when he learned we was not going to be in the starting lineup.

Playoff-bound Montreal coach Mauro Biello has made up with the washed-up Drogba.  But let's be clear: Drogba would never have pulled this move at his former stops. He knows that it simply doesn't matter for his career or really anyone's career what happens in meaningless MLS matches.

This event highlights how players who starred in Europe view the league. You may have missed Andrea Pirlo's recent comments about the league.

Said Pirlo: "I love the style of sport in America. Here you come to the stadium with your family and the victory comes second. What counts first and foremost is the sense of people coming together."

This in a country that brought you Donald Trump. Yet Pirlo is right. The family atmosphere in MLS stadiums is legendary, as this blog can attest to from games in Colorado, Orlando and Chicago this season. You can sit and enjoy the match and talk to the people next to you about the weather, politics or how your kids are doing. That's what Pirlo is talking about.

Furthermore, only three teams fired coaches in season. To be fair, the ineptitude of the league is a major reason for this. New York Red Bulls will finish atop the Eastern Conference despite blowing five, count them FIVE two-goal leads in draws.  Normally those 10 dropped points would matter but the quality in the MLS is so low it didn't. No one is paying attention anyway.

MLS coaches love that nothing is on the line for them.  There's very little pressure to perform in the league - or in the country - for anybody.  The United States finished fourth in the Gold Cup and retained coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The U.S. fourth-place finish in the Copa America consisted of three wins and three defeats. Consecutive fourth-place finishes are considered "success," apparently.

The football culture in the U.S. is more than accepting of mediocrity and no one respects the MLS. Even this old guy is back scoring goals.

Back in business! Real football returns

After a stretch of boring internationals that included a useless 1-1 draw between the United States and New Zealand, it's time to get back to business with some real football action in Europe. Let's refresh what's going on in the top leagues over there and get ready for the weekend.

Premier League

The biggest story continues to be how foreign managers continue to latch on, with Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte coming aboard this year. Ronald Koeman has Everton flying high and Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham look capable of another third place run.

The big matchups this weekend are all between foreign managers. Former Barcelona bosses Guardiola and Koeman meet along with a match between Italian supremos Conte and Claudio Ranieri as Chelsea take on Leicester City. Perhaps the most intriguing is Arsene Wenger matching wits with Bob Bradley as Arsenal tussle with Swansea City. Bradley's hire has drawn plenty of attention and the Swans have actally won on three of their last five league visits to the Emirates.

The Premier League features a last-place team with an American striker in Sunderland's Lynden Gooch.

Bundesliga

The table is still tight with Bayern Munich only enjoying a three-point lead. The big match is today as second-placed Hertha Berlin visit third-placed Borussia Dortmund in a matchup of heavyweights.

Both have American stars and Christian Pulisic and Dortmund will be eager to take over second place ahead of a big Champions League encounter with Sporting Lisbon. Hertha, who have been playing without John Brooks, have shipped six goals in their last two road fixtures, including a humbling 3-0 defeat to Bayern. The last time these sides met, BVB rolled in the German Cup semi-finals, and Berlin have plenty to prove. Hertha's Genki Haraguchi and Valentin Stocker had impressive weeks for their countries.

The Bundesliga features a last-place team with an American striker in Hamburg's Bobby Wood.

La Liga Santander

No league will have a better title race than this one. Atletico Madrid currently lead, followed by Real Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona in fourth. 

The big story is the return of Lionel Messi. Both Barcelona and Argentina showed their frailties without him. The plan is to get him some action this weekend against Depo so he can possibly start against Guardiola's Man City next Wednesday. 

In other news, Cesare Prandelli is the latest to take over at troubled Valencia. Can the Italian maestro revive this once-proud club?

La Liga, of course, features no American players.

Serie A

Juventus is back on top and on form, although is there cause for concern after Gianluigi Buffon's gaffe against Spain? We think not.

The biggest game is second versus third when Napoli host Roma. Things won't be the same since the strike partnership of Jose Maria Callejon and Arkadiusz Milik has been broken up thanks to Milik's ACL injury while playing for Poland. How ill-timed are these internationals?

Quietly, a Carlos Bacca-led AC Milan may finally be a Champions League contender again. Over at the San Siro, Keisuke Honda is out of favour once again and he has ripped the Milan faithful in response.

Serie A features no American players, although that could change.

FINAL THOUGHTS

That about sums it up. There is one bit of business we want to mention from international play - the developments in Asian World Cup qualifying this past stretch. You may be surprised to learn that neither South Korea nor Japan hold automatic spots in a region that is becoming more competitive.

Iran scored a deserved 1-0 victory over Korea in front of a huge crowd in Tehran despite playing on a Shiite day of mourning. Check out the highlights below:

Another stinging critique of U.S. Soccer culture!

The United States team edged past Cuba in a meaningless friendly today that hopefully no one saw. The match came hours after former boss Bob Bradley made no bones about how much he hates Jurgen Klinsmann with some oddly-timed comments at his introductory Swansea City press conference.  Bradley also made clear that he felt Klinsmann was not a good candidate to coach England (hopefully England doesn't realize that!).

Meanwhile, it's college football season in the States or college 'soccer,' as the Yanks call it. And we have more evidence of how idiotic that sport it in this story by the Guardian. You see, college soccer allows what amounts to basically unlimited substitutions. That leads to chaotic slopfests that prevent players from developing technical skills. It's a complete mess.

Said UConn coach Ray Reid: "People wonder why the USA doesn’t play the right way – and it’s our fault, because we haven’t given Jurgen enough guys with technique. We should have more guys playing good soccer, but you have to be willing to sacrifice early on and a lot of guys aren’t. More guys concentrate on wins and losses than on development."

Why would college soccer exist like this?  Well Americans always do things their own way, don't they? That works in sports they invented, although even that isn't true all the time. It doesn't work in a sport in which everybody in the world plays - with the notable exception of the greatest cricket powerhouse in the world India.

There is no reason for college soccer not to play by regular rules but American colleges are essentially overpriced, self-contained businesses at this point with little to no oversight. If tuition continues to reach record heights each year with the government unable to do anything about that, do you think U.S. soccer has any chance of fixing a sport that is an afterthought at these faux institutes of higher learning?

While Bruce Arena flies Southwest, Bob Bradley is flying high

This is about the two greatest football managers in United States in history. One led the country to a World Cup quarter-final appearance and was thisclose to the semis. The other masterminded the only team in history to win a World Cup group along with a stunning upset of European champion Spain in between La Furia Roja's 2008 Euro title and 2010 World Cup win - the lone such crown in Spanish history.

Much is known about Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley and both have extensive MLS experience. One is still there now - the dean of MLS coaching in Arena. And do you want to get a chance to meet him? You can do it by logging onto Southwest.com and booking a flight.

Why is this? Because of the stunning LA Times investigative piece explaining how MLS mandates commercial flights.  That means the star-studded Galaxy may be on Southwest.

Said Landon Donovan: "There’s a perception and an image. We're on a Southwest flight to Kansas City and a lady in front of us said, ‘Why are you guys flying Southwest?’ So if we want to be Major League Soccer, not minor league soccer, and we want to be like the others sports, eventually we have to get there."

In essence, the league only allows four charter flights in the interest of "competitive balance." That includes the playoffs for some reason. Arena said he is so embarrassed that he bans the players from wearing LA Galaxy gear in order not to look ridiculous.

What does the league have to say in response? Idiot commissioner Don Garber said that teams have to decide whether they want charter flights or academies.  What foolishness and this is why the MLS is one of the world's laughingstocks. The Times reported charter travel would only cost the league an additional $20 million.

Across the pond, Bradley doesn't have to deal with such nonsense in the richest league in the world. The new Swansea City boss gave his first interview below to the club web site.

So what does IMOTGP think about Bradley at Swansea City? Well we think it's a good situation despite the club hovering just above the drop on four points and winless in six. For one, within the Swans' reach are clubs like Hull City, Burnley, Boro and Bournemouth - all within four points or fewer. Swansea have enough talent to get above these sides.

The next six fixtures are Arsenal (A), Watford (H), Stoke City (A), Manchester United (H), Everton (A) and Crystal Palace (H).  Only the Gunners are title contenders in that group and it's safe to say that Swansea will fancy their chances of picking up points in all of the other five, perhaps outside of the trip to Goodison Park. A 10- or 11-point haul from these matches is critical for Bradley and could be doable with established talent like Fernando Llorente, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Leroy Fer and Wayne Routledge on hand. It's up to Bradley to revive players like Jefferson Montero and Ki Sung-Yueng.

The Arsenal match is delectable since it was reported that Swansea asked their managerial candidates for a game plan to neutralize the Gunners during the interviews and Bradley apparently shined. On Oct. 15, we will find out whether that plan really has merit.

But in conclusion, Swansea are a fairly stable club and we believe it's actually a better place for Bradley to be than a bigger club like Sunderland which has had much upheaval of late. He's also not with one of the newboys, either. If Bradley gets relegated, he'll deserve to be sacked but we predict that won't happen and the Swans will stabilize somewhere in the upper part of the bottom half of the table.

How IMOTGP Spent the International Break

With the international break upon us, you may be wondering what your humble blogger has been doing with very little meaningful football to watch. Well, although football is the world's greatest game, you should know that we here at the IMOTGP follow another sport in cricket - the world's most popular bat and ball game.

So we used the time off to head to the theater along with dozens of Indians to check out the movie that has become a worldwide phenomenon - M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.  It's a film about the greatest athlete of the 21st century, M.S. Dhoni, and his rise from the state of Jharkhand to the captain of the Indian cricket team. Dhoni led us to the 2007 T20 World Cup title and the 2011 ODI World Cup title. In between, we also rose to No. 1 in the Test rankings. These were heady times for the world's most popular sports team. Let's face it, we defined greatness during those days.

Dhoni is severely underpaid for his status, however, as only the 23rd richest athlete in 2015 with a mere $31 million. That paltry sum only means that he has not fallen victim to the marketing machine of Western sports, choosing to stay true to his humble roots when he began as a ticket taker at a train station.

The official IMOTGP  verdict on the movie is that it is one of the greatest pieces of filmmaking this decade. It tells of the highs and lows of the world's greatest athlete, the tragedies and the triumphs, and it clocks in at just over three hours - slightly more than a riveting T20 match.You see how Dhoni grew up in a small town, how he rose to prominence, how he met the woman of his dreams by locking himself out of his hotel room and how he dropped three legendary players from the India team as captain. In short, you learn what makes Dhoni and India so great.

The most moving scene is when Dhoni's boss at the railroad station demonstrates how cricket is a metaphor for life when Dhoni wants to quit his job. The boss mentions how as a batsman you have to deal with different deliveries from the bowler by using different techniques at the crease - just like life throws you different challenges. After all, would you swing for the boundary on an inswinger or go for six on a doosra? I think we all know the answer to that.

We give this movie four stars. This football fan found it inspirational to see the leader of Indian cricket in all his glory. M.S Dhoni is a living legend and we can't wait for the sequel. Head to your local theater and watch this as soon as you can!

How IMOTGP convinced Bob Bradley to go to England

Multiple sources have told the IMOTGP that Swansea City have changed managers, with Bob Bradley taking over for Francesco Guidolin. You may be wondering how this all went down and we will break down some of the details the media may not be aware of.

Swansea City are owned in part by Americans Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien. The former has some executive role with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and the latter is linked to MLS outfit D.C. United. The Americans are well aware how Bradley masterminded an upset of Spain as United States boss in a memorable run to the Confederations Cup final in 2009.

What you may not know - and has not been widely reported - is the role IMOTGP has played in this. Swansea have done their due diligence and noted our fantastic blog post about how the American David Wagner is performing a miracle in English football at Huddersfield Town. Proving the Swans left no stone unturned, they contacted the IMOTGP after seeing our clandestine meeting with Bob Bradley's son, Michael - known best for being a United States teammate of Christian Pulisic. (Note: Pulisic mentioned in this article for SEO purposes).

We can now disclose that Michael Bradley and IMOTGP discussed coaching options for his father in that September meeting. We apologize for not reporting that earlier but we were in a delicate position here at the blog and didn't want to compromise any valuable information. Bradley and us discussed several jobs - IMOTGP suggested the Bundesliga was too far a reach for Bob Bradley and he should pursue a lesser league like the Premier League instead.

So there you have it, the story behind  the story that the football media has not picked up. We congratulate Bob Bradley on this historic appointment while still waiting for the first American coach in Bundesliga history.  Maybe this guy can do that?