Jonjo Shelvey is in trouble.
Jonjo Shelvey is in trouble because he is alleged to have racially abused Wolves player Romain Saiss earlier this month. Should Shelvey be found to have used the racist language he is accused of having used, he faces a minimum five-match ban, though it should probably be more like the eight-game ban Luis Suarez received for racially abusing Patrice Evra a few years ago.
A lot of people have complaints about the MLS, and that's fine, but at least the government here didn't have to put all soccer competitions on hold because someone tried to burn down a referee's house. That's what happened in Greece.
A non-league coach in England has been banned for three years for gambling, including betting on his own team to lose.
Nick Bunyard, former manager of Frome Town, is either not very good at managing, or not very good at gambling, or both.
Here is an actual quote from Bunyard in the Western Daily Press:
Eleven matches into the season and we are still waiting for Jose Mourinho and his squad to show any real signs of challenging for the Premier League title. It's still early, but United already trail Liverpool by eight points in the EPL table.
Having scored more goals (126) at 23 than Cristiano Ronaldo (110), Luis Suarez (107) or Wayne Rooney (100), Romelu Lukaku has established himself as the world’s most complete young striker.
The Neymar Santos-to-Barcelona transfer saga has taken another turn as Spain's high court reportedly ruled that Neymar, his parents and Barcelona executives Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu (as well as the club itself) should stand trial for fraud and corruption.
From The Guardian:
Stjepan Lucijanic looks like a bus driver, but he just set one of the most impressive records in soccer.
Lucijanic plays for NK Dracice Dakovo in the Croatian seventh division, and he scored a hat trick (or more) in five straight matches recently, breaking an 18-year-old record held by Japanese forward Masashija Nakayamu. Overall, Lucijanic scored 20 goals in the five games.
This isn't even the only cool thing Lucijanic has done on a soccer field. Earlier this season he scored six (six!) goals in one match, and one time he scored 12 seconds into a match.
Bastian Schweinsteiger has yet to appear for Manchester United this season. The German midfielder returned to first team training recently (after being forced to train alone), reportedly to get in shape for a possible January move.
It can't be easy for Schweinsteiger to go through this situation with United, which he has said will be his last club in Europe. That's why we're glad to see Schweinsteiger getting some fresh air and light exercise, as well as keeping his spirits up, by going for a walk.
Messi used to have an intricate sleeve tattoo on his shin. Remember that?
Now, he has something very special and different: a black thing. We really can't think of a name for it. It is black. It is very black. It covers almost his entire lower leg (he kept the number 10 and some other stuff).
Messi changed his tattoo. pic.twitter.com/yVN9Eu2DOV
Many will claim this is blasphemy. Many will throw rocks.
Nevertheless, there is a case to be made. MSN is not the most exciting offensive trio to watch in soccer right now.
Now take a second and a deep breath before closing the browser and lighting up your torches. Hell, I’ll say it: There has seldom been a team that more fun to watch than this season’s Liverpool squad since Ronaldinho said goodbye to Barcelona.
Sure, the genius who is Jurgen Klopp at the helm has a good deal to do with the success. But that attacking trio . . .