A Premier League Rookie's Run For The World Cup

[Lecrae]

Quote: Originally Posted by DiPIE

Nice BAP Lecrae, looking forward to the next update

Thanks , I might do another game tonight but the stats and stuff won't be done until tomorrow unless I can't go to sleep.

[Lecrae]

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Everton Look To Take 3 From City
19 August, 2009

Last week Everton only managed to take 1 point from Arsenal but Manchester City also only managed to take 1 point from their opponent. City come out with Shay Given in goal, Micah Richards and Wayne Bridge on the outside, and Yaya Toure and Joleon Lescott in the center for the defensive line. De Jong is at defensive midfielder while Garreth Barry lines up right in front of him at central midfielder with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Craig Bellamy lining up on the sides. Carlos Tevez will play center field while Adebayor is the only true striker listed.

Both teams would battle throughout the first half for possession in midfield as neither team could really get the ball in the opponent's box. In the 22nd minute Tim Cahill got a chance when a Jamaal Williams pass set him up to take a shot but unfortunately Lescott stepped in the way. Tevez would get a chance after a bad pass by Jamaal Williams would lead to a pass from Garreth Barry but Joseph Yobo would step in the way to send it out for a corner kick. Bellamy would send in a long cross to Tevez who was unmarked in the box and he easily headed it past Tim Howard to put Man City on the board. The ref would blow his whistle after a long shot attempt by Cahill.

In the 2nd half Bellamy almost got his own goal in the 47th minute but Heitinga was able to keep him out of the box while support arrived. Roque Santa Cruz would come on for Bellamy in the 59th minute for Manchester City. Adebayor would almost get on the scorecard himself after a poor throw in by Leighton Baines left the Man City striker 1v1 with Tim Howard but the shot curved wide left in the last few feet. Barry would commit a poor tackle on Cahill but Williams would prove once again to not be able to find the back of the net. Cahill would get his own free kick chance in the 70th minute after a foul by Richards on Steven Pienaar but he sent his shot right of the net. A poor clearance by Givens lead to Williams sending a pass into Cahill but Givens made up for his mistake by getting the save. Fellaini found himself alone on the left side and he sent a low cross into Williams but the young midfielder hit it a bit too hard as it sailed high. The majority of the last 10 minutes was spent in Man City's half of the field but Everton was unable to find an equalizer as the match ended 1-0 in City's favor.

For the rest of the league Blackburn Rovers beat Fulham 1-0, Sunderland and Chelsea drew 1-1, Wolverhampton laid it on late to beat Wigan Athletic 5-2, Aston Villa beat West Ham 2-0, Arsenal scored early to beat Bolton 1-0, Portsmouth pulled out of Birmingham City with a 1-0 win, Tottenham kept Hull city from tieing it up with a 2-1 victory, and Liverpool/Stoke City finished there game with no goals as it ended 0-0.

[Lecrae]

WILLIAMS DETERMINED
The names Torres, Bradley, Jones, Mastroeni, and Edu. What do they all have in common? They all stand in the way of Jamaal Williams' United States aspirations. The new guy of the Premier League has stated in an interview with Sky Sports after last week's loss at Manchester City that, “(I) really want to play for my country,” explained Williams, “I know they all want to play as well but I need to outperform them and show (Bob Bradley) that I can step up for my team.”

Williams is Everton's replacement for injured Mikel Arteta, who is out with a knee injury, and he still has a lot to prove as he has blown several chances to score and Everton has only taken 1 point in the first 2 games.

“Well if you think about who we've played you can't outright say we should have won either game ya know?”, explained Williams, referring to Arsenal and Manchester City who both have good chances at winning the league and are almost sure winners to be in Europe next year. Everton's next 8 games are all winnable but Williams may be looking forward to a different game.

The United State's National Team makes a trip to Spain on the 29th of this month and Williams wants to play badly.

“It's just a friendly and I don't think we should just play the norm, hopefully (Bob Bradley) will think about including me at least as a sub or something.”

[Lecrae]

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Everton get 1st chance at easy win
Take on Burnley with a win expected

Burnley are one of the new kids on the block but needless to say they shouldn't be taken lightly. They won one game already and are desperately trying to not be the one promoted team that seems to always fall back down to the Championship. They bring with them Danish keeper Brian Jensen, Jamaican Tyrone Mears and Englishman Clark Carlisle on the right with Scotsmen Steven Caldwell and Englishmen Stephen Jordan on the left. Scotmen Graham Alexander and Englishman Wade Elliot line up as defensive midfielders with Irishman Chris McCann and Englishman Robbie Blake lines up in front of them. Englishmen Wes Fletcher and Martin Patterson play up top as Burnley's primary scorers.

Everton would get out to an early start as Tim Cahill received a pass from Jamaal Williams but Caldwell stepped in the way as he entered the box. Burnley would put pressure on Everton's back line and Patterson got a shot off but Yobo would deflect it to Marouane Fellaini whose clearance would find Williams. He would get the ball to Saha but Jensen would manage to get his fingers on it for a corner kick. Everton would get several tries on corneer kicks but Cahill would be unable to find a blue shirt in the box. Burnley also was unable to find the back of the net but they did find Howard's kit several times before the end of the half.

At the start of the half Everton would again get a chance to put pressure on Jensen but the shot by Saha would curve too much and Jensen would gather it up easily. Burnley would find themselves on the counter attack and Fletcher would get Howard on 1v1 and Howard came out on top as he punched the ball up and over the goal. In the 67th minute Cahill would find Saha and Jensen would pick up a foul in the box after he tried to charge the ball only to catch Saha's heels. Cahill would take the penalty kick and he would put it right into the back of the net for Everton's first goal of the season. After the restart Burnley would try and push forward only to have Saha get the ball and find himself wide open to get an easy goal to put Everton up 2-0. Williams would try and add onto the lead as Cahill knocked it on to him but it would head straight to Jensen. Burnley would get one back after they caught Everton's back line sleeping, giving Blake his first goal of the season in injury time.

Everton won 2-1.

In the rest of the league it seemed like playing away from home was a blessing as Bolton, Wolverhampton, and Manchester United all found themselves with 2-0 wins over Hull City, Manchester City, and Wigan Athletic respectively. Tottenham would also get a road victory with a 3-1 victory over West Ham. Arsenal/Portsmouth, Birmingham City/Stoke City, and Fulham/Chelsea all ended goalless.

[DiPIE]

Nice win, hopefully you get to play with Team USA.

[Lecrae]

Thanks, I forgot to play average last game so I ended up with an amazing rating of like 8 without really doing anything so I need to go back to my "rookie" playing style, aka shoot first think later.

[Lecrae]

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WILLIAMS GETS 1ST CAP FOR USMNT
Perhaps Bob Bradley took Jamaal William's comments to heart as the 19 year old is now set to make his first appearance for his country's national team who travel to Spain for a friendly next week. The Blues midfielder hasn't contributed to any scoring for the club (although they have only scored twice so far) he has found Cahill and Saha several times as well as Pienaar on the side for crosses.

Fellow Blue Tim Howard will join Williams on the trip to meet up with the team in Madrid.

"It isn't news to me that I'm starting," says Howard, "I won't lie and say that I am surprised that coach is giving the kid (Williams) a chance so early but I guess he isn't the only young guy out there and with the stars of the team getting up here in age we need to start looking for future players."

Williams appeared to be more optimistic, "I'm glad he (Bob Bradley) is giving me the chance to go to Spain and show the Spaniards that we can beat them twice in a row and I plan on making a mark on the world scale."

The last time these two teams played it was an US victory in the Confederations Cup where the US ended Spain's brilliant undefeated streak in the semi-finals. Williams is the only US player making his debut as the rest of the team saw action in the Confederations Cup or in the last World Cup.

Editor's Note: I just realized that the stadium we will be playing at broke ground on my birthday in 1944. It has to be a sign right?

[DiPIE]

How are you already in the starting squad?
Whenever I make play a BAP right away they put you on the reserves and don't let you start.
Are you the chosen one?