Page 4 - Monthly Archives: July 2015

Calling all Manchester City fans: Soccer Box officially has the new 2015 2016 home kit and goalkeeper jersey in stock, following the club's July 3^rd launch of the Manchester City home kit 2015 - 2016. The football shirt is only a slight departure from the 2014 2015 home kit, featuring a more formal polo-style collar and jettisoning the navy blue trim, but keeping the same traditional sky blue aesthetic. The goalkeeper shirt, meanwhile, is once again a vibrant yellow hue.

The Launch

Where many football clubs have launched their 2015 2016 kit designs just by releasing videos or promotional photographs online, the Sky Blues took a more personal approach for the introduction of the

Will Bayern Munich set themselves up to win a fourth consecutive German football title? Will Thomas Tuchel acquit himself well as the new manager for Borussia Dortmund? Will Wolfsburg improve upon last year's solid run to return to the top of the table? All these questions and others are on the minds of German football fans as the start date for the 2015 2016 Bundesliga season approaches. At the end of June, the German league announced the various Bundesliga opening day fixtures 2015 - 2016, which is scheduled for August 14^th. Unlike the Premier League, which pretty much scheduled all of its best teams against notably weaker entities, there are some very interesting, competitive draws in the bunch for Bundesliga opening day this year. Read on to see the various match-ups, as well as to get our commentary about what kind of outcomes might be anticipated.

The Big Games

While August 14^th will see nine

Will Paris Saint Germain clinch their fourth Ligue 1 title in a row? Will Monaco find their way back to the French Championship slot after a 15-year draught? Will Olympique Lyon do what they couldn't do in 2014 2015 and put an end to PSG's winning streak? These are just a few of the questions that are brewing as the summer rolls forward and the start date for the French Ligue 1 division draws ever closer. Now, with Ligue 1 opening day fixtures 2015 - 2016 officially announced, we can start speculating about who will start the football season off right-and who will be playing catch-up from the word go.

PSG Shirts

The "Good Bets"

When the sun rises on August 7^th for the opening day of the 2015 2016 Ligue 1 season, you will more or less be able to split the fixtures into

When Steven Gerrard finally departed Anfield at the end of the 2014 2015 season, he not only left Liverpool FC to carry on without one of their leading goalscorers and top assists providers, but without their captain as well. Now, in the midst of a summer that has seen a substantial amount of press for the Liverpool soccer squad-between new transfer arrivals and the bitter departure of Raheem Sterling-manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that Jordan Henderson will be leading the Reds in 2015 2016 and beyond.

Officially, the next man in line for the Liverpool FC captaincy is Jordan Henderson. A 25-year-old midfielder with 186 Liverpool appearances and 20 goals to his name (overall), Henderson has been a popular player with Reds fans since arriving at Anfield in 2011. When he dons the Liverpool football shirt for the start of the 2015 - 2016 Premier League football campaign in the fall, he'll also don the captain's armband.

Perhaps the biggest news in the Manchester City transfer rumor mill this week was the speculation that the club was ready to leap into a battle to sign PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But while speculation rages about where that game-making Swede will be playing soccer next season, the Sky Blues also quietly made their first purchase of the summer transfer window, for Turkish youngster, Enes Unal.

At just 18 years old, Unal is still only barely out of his youth career. He kicked off his senior career in 2013 at Turkish club Bursaspor, and is now headed to the Premier League for (hopefully) bigger and better things.

Promise over Proof

At this point, Enes Unal is more of a player with promise than a player who has proved his worth. In 54

It seems like only a few weeks have been passed since Chelsea FC were officially crowned the champions of the 2014 2015 Premier League, but it's already time to start speculating about what the 2015 2016 season might bring. On June 17^th, the English Premier League opening day fixtures 2015 - 2016 were released, and there are some fun match-ups in the bunch. Read on for our full rundown of what to expect when competitive play commences on Saturday, August 8^th.

The Easy Calls

As with any year, most of the Premier League's biggest football clubs won't face any substantial challenges in their opening day fixtures. Barclay's Premier League officials have done a good job of "spreading the wealth," as it were, with their top football teams.

That spreading of the wealth will give EPL followers a lot of different matches to focus on during day one, but it also means that there are a few "easy calls"

Where other clubs have been picking up new players right and left since the 2014 2015 football season drew to a close, FC Bayern Munich have had a relatively quiet summer transfer window so far. They've brought in goalkeeper Sven Ulreich from VfB Stuttgart (though he will undoubtedly play second fiddle to the great Manuel Neuer), and they've added midfielder Joshua Kimmich (also from Stuttgart), but for the most part, the Bavarians have been reserved with their summer signings and transfers so far. That could all change in the coming weeks, with rumors swirling that the club might offer Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben to Manchester United in exchange for Angel di Maria. For now, the announcement that Bayern Munich sign Douglas Costa, an attacking midfielder, is Bayern Munich's biggest signing of the summer.

Douglas Costa-not to be confused with Chelsea FC's Diego Costa-comes to Bayern Munich following a five-and-a-half-year stint with Ukrainian club, Shakhtar Donetsk. The

FC Barcelona may be dealing with a FIFA transfer ban for signing underage players last year, but that hasn't stopped the club from making a few signings during the summer transfer window. The latest announcement is that Barcelona signs Arda Turan, a Turkish attacking midfielder, who comes to Camp Nou from Atletico Madrid. Like every other player that signs with Barca this summer, Turan won't actually be able to participate in competitive matches for the team until January 2016. Still, the 28-year-old star seems downright ecstatic about his move to FC Barcelona -particularly about playing alongside his self-confessed idol, Andres Iniesta.

Barca Jersey

A Replacement for Iniesta?

In the days following his signing at Barcelona, Turan stated that, while Messi will always be the "best,"

The start of July brought a nice little treat for Juventus fans: the unveiling of the new Juventus kits 2015 2016 season. The July 1^st announcement saw the launch of both the 2015 2016 home football shirt and the away jersey, both of which were designed by Juve's brand new kit manufacturer, Adidas. (These are the first Juventus kits not made by Nike since 2003.) You can get your hands on both new kit designs today at Soccer Box!

The New Home Kit Design

The 2015 2016 Juventus home shirt is an intriguing twist on the football club's iconic black and white zebra-striped home kits. The vertical stripes on the jersey are notably narrower than they were on last year's version.

Soccer, men's or ladies football, has never been the sport in the United States. While fans in England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and countless other countries around the globe adore and follow association football with unrivaled passion and dedication, interest for the sport in the USA tends to depend entirely on how the American teams are doing at marquee international events. Major League Soccer has a niche following, but it can't compete with America's more beloved pastimes, like baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. But when a United States national team is doing well-as the men's USA soccer team did at last year's World Cup in Brazil-American sports fans will still tune in and show interest in soccer. It's just that, generally, that interest fades once the big marquee tournaments are in the rearview.

For the USA women's soccer team, then, the battle to attain a following in their own country has been two-pronged. For one thing, USA sports fans are not huge on soccer