Photo by Premiershiptalk.com

Another week where I have a gut feeling about a game, but just can't man up and pull the trigger. Seriously, I need to man up already. I seem to ramble about this, but it is either the parity in the EPL or the fact I just don't think either Manchester United or Liverpool are that good, but I wrote down 2-2 Sunderland vs United and then changed it. Even though I really didn't want to. Ugh. It's frustrating when you second guess yourself, even more so when you then don't actually get it right. I think in this game it had to be the relative strength of Sunderland instead of just pure weakness from United. Sunderland is clearly here to play and will torch you with Bent and Jones if you aren't prepared. I'll talk more about this parity in a bit, but goodness.

United supporters cannot be impressed. You now have three games where you have gotten some sort of result you don't deserve, and you are not making anyone a believer. Not only that, it seems Sir Alex has a new problem with the referees EVERY SINGLE WEEK. From here on out, Sir Alex Ferguson will become Whiny Alex Ferguson. Yes thats right WAF, I'm sick of you focusing on the refs instead of your team. Try getting them to play well and then have calls go against you when you are actually outplaying someone instead of relying on calls to get you results. Really, try it. I dare you. I dare you WAF.

Clint Dempsey has been ruled out of the Honduras match after straining his shoulder this weekend in his EPL match. This my friends is very bad news. Dempsey has been on form for Fulham, not scoring a ton but looking incredibly dangerous in the attack, especially against Arsenal as he hit the post from 25 out and nearly scored previously as well. Now certainly we enjoy maligning Demps' national team output at times as he certainly isn't Ol Reliable, but I certainly appreciate his creativity and ability to get goals in big games.

Now I am excited to see Benny, Stu, or Jose get a shot, and not just at making their own version of the three wisemen. I mean, I would drink a Benny Stu and Jose, but I'm not sure if any of them are ready for this game. Convential wisdom says Benny as he has the most experience, national team form and fit for the position says Stu because he fits the right wing well and has been playing beastly with the team, and club form and wildcard status says Jose because he has been playing quite well in Mexico and is likely the most talented of the three. Who will Bad Decision Bob pick? Time will tell. Unfortunately the TV probably won't tell though, as this game is still likely only going to be on closed circuit TV in bars and restaraunts.

For the first time, and I don't say this lightly but I am really scared to watch this game. To the point where I might not. Considering the importance, the location, and the fact that a lot of my trip to South Africa hangs in the balance combined with the poor form of the national team of late and the bad news about Dempsey probably means that I won't be able to stomach this one. I mean, I'll likely watch this from under a table or behind a couch, or from a corner somewhere. My love for the national team is to the point where it hurts, and qualification is so close and yet so far away. I'll have a match preview later this week, but I'm prepared to watch this game in hiding or via text mesage update from Chamo just because of its magnitude and my not so reassuring feelings coming in. This could be the game that goes down in history as the start of the biggest US qualification debacle ever, or one where someone stands and delivers and I have a new hero. I'm praying for the second.

This weekend was a pretty awesome one in a number of different ways. First, I attended LovEvolution in San Francisco, which is a parade and concert and huge concert afterparties of epic proportions. If you like electronic music, huge crowds, incredible scenes that words cannot describe, and a ton of fun, make sure to make it out next fall. SF is such an awesome city, and I was incredibly impressed and still don't have words for the event three days later. To make the weekend better, I got word that both the men's team and the club team took down Davis at Cal Poly Sunday. This sets up a huge game for Poly's D1 team at UCSB this wednesday night, and I cannot recommend enough to get there if you are anywhere in Southern California.

Poly is two and oh in league and squares off against a UCSB team that is one and oh in league and is ranked nationally in the top ten and just stomped the University of Indiana. The return leg at Poly in November is sure to be epic as well, as combined these two games drew crowds of more then 20,000 last year. UCSB will likely have close to 10k Wednesday night. I promise the atmosphere alone will be worth your while, the central coast has some of the best soccer fans around. My club team boys did work this weekend as to add to their win, they drew UCSB at UCSB Saturday, which is an insanely tough place to get a result, and have positioned themselves in the driver seat for winning the league and heading to nationals. Reports say our boy Chamo was dominant in goal, which doesn't surprise me at all. The man is a beast, and when he isn't busy carrying the club team he claims to carry Constantly Offside which we all know is a lie. He tries hard though, and that is what matters.

If you haven't seen Iker Casillas' performance this weekend, there is no time like the present. This video unfortunately can't be imbedded but goodness. Iker Casillas is better then you at being superhuman I'm pretty sure this proves two major things. One, that Madrid actually doesn't have any concept of what defense means. None. Marking? That is something you do with colored markers. Defending? That is something you do with your boys when your sister is going out with some creeper. These words do not exist in Madrid's vocabulary. Second, Casillas is not actually human. He is actually some version of a Ninja Turtle, like Onyewu, however unlike Onyewu it is not just in name only. Like, that second save is incredible. All the way across the goal? Sure. In a span of a split second with the game on the line? Why not. Just spectacular. Surely not human though. Not a chance.

In the EPL, I can officially say that I have no idea who will be playing in the Europa League next year. None. Considering the top half of the table currently looks like this

Chelsea	8	21
Man Utd	8	19
Tottenham	8	16
Man City	7	16
Arsenal	7	15
Liverpool	8	15
Aston Villa	7	13
Sunderland	8	13
Burnley	8	12
Everton	7	10

I can officially say I can see all of these teams but Chelsea and Arsenal landing anywhere in the top ten. Burnley's form probably won't hold, but maybe it will. Who knows. The EPL is chock full of good teams this year, and teams are getting increasingly harder to beat at home, and any given day if you don't bring your A game, you are likely to get your shit handed to you. I do think Chelsea is the class of the league, followed closely by Arsenal. I also don't see any way Arsenal does not win at least one trophy this year. They are clicking way too much, and still are missing players. In my predictions preseason I talked about the strength and depth they have in the midfield, however even I did not expect this much power and skill. Beware of Arshavin and Walcott. Beware.

That's all for me, share your thoughts about any of these things below, especially if you think I am way off base here.