Twenty stadiums stand still. Knockoff Football Jerseys . So quiet you can hear the winds of summer echoing all around them. Homes to some of the most recognizable football clubs on this earth lie empty, waiting for their time to shine. For 31 days, their stadium cousins in Brazil captured the eyes of the world while they slept. Fans still visit to buy the new strip inside the club shop and as July nears an end, more and more people arrive home from their holidays and come to pay a visit. Some buy a ticket for a match, others buy one for 19. Inside, groundskeepers are the summer conductors of the orchestra, bellowing out the sounds while thousands of empty seats sit still and wait. Those who pay good money to sit on them read the newspapers every day, hoping each one might be the day their team signs a player that will excite them. It is a fresh dawn, one that may yet prove to be a false one but the beauty of summer in England for a football fan is that as they read about their teams, while watching cricket, their minds allow for positive thoughts. It is not a normal emotion for a fan. Gone are the scars of recent heartache suffered at the most recent match. It seems like forever since their team played a competitive game. May feels like it was in 2013 and as the sun shines, along with it comes a ray of hope that somehow this season will be better than last. August arrives. Twenty stadiums stand ready to burst. The grass has never looked more pristine and the excitement starts to build and build as pre-season games are completed. Dress rehearsals are fun but nothing prepares you for the real thing. Needed improvements are completed, fresh advertising signs are up and more and more employees enter as the season gets closer and closer. Twenty stadiums stand ready. For the next 10 months, they will be the theatres grand stages, seen around the globe by close to five billion people in approximately 650 million homes. Games will be played out in the sun, hail, rain, and thats sometimes all in one day. Theyll play at night under floodlights and points will be won and lost, as a 10-month gruelling marathon will take place. Only one stadium will crown a true champion, three others will see more tears than most and wont be back for the party next year. For now, though, they stand together, ready to open up to over 13 million fans to watch 380 matches between now and May 24, 2015. International Visitors Many fresh new faces on the field will also enter their gates for the first time. Seen as one of Englands greatest exports, the Barclays Premier League has once again opened its doors to some wonderful overseas talent. As George Orwell so poetically put it over seven decades ago, England is a country fascinated by all things foreign and the Premier League clubs who have spent considerable funds on non-English talent this summer have certainly brought smiles to the faces of their anxious fans. Less than a year after stunning the football world with Mesut Ozil, Arsenal continued shopping at a level they require with the purchase of the wonderfully gifted Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean gives Arsene Wenger something he didnt have, a player who can make their attack more flexible, a legitimate difference maker who brings pace and guile whether he plays out wide or on the back of the defenders shoulders in a central spot. The 2014 FA Cup winners retained Wenger, called a specialist in failure by Jose Mourinho, who will know he must win the league this season to avoid such a description being turned back on him. The additions of Spaniards Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa represent a fantastic summer for the Blues as they continue to build a spine necessary for them to get back to winning ways. Chelsea lacked the power that winners Man City had in key areas on the field last season and they have gone a long way to rectify that with Fabregas joining an outstanding, revamped central midfield alongside the impressive Nemanja Matic and Marco Van Ginkel. Ander Herrera, Felipe Luis, Lazar Markovic, Eliaquim Mangala, Fernando, Remy Cabella, Jefferson Montero, Enner Valencia, Dusan Tadic and Didier Drogba (again) have all arrived for a collective 150 million pounds and many others have joined them but the biggest name of all to arrive on English shores is in Manchester where a wounded former giant badly needs a new leader. Louis Van Gaal arrives at Manchester United where it was no longer just belonging to Sir Alex. The failure of David Moyes means the bridge between the old boss and the new boss is considerably longer than it was in April. That is the first thing he has going for him. It is not the last. Van Gaal has arrived at Old Trafford where there is finally a feeling of a badly needed fresh start. Gone are Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra and if the 63-year-old is to complete a successful overhaul, players such as Anderson, Nani, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley, Rafael and Javier Hernandez will likely follow over time. Van Gaal has already stamped an identity on United in his short time, something badly missing under Moyes. The team looks set to play a 3-4-1-2 system against many opponents, one backed by senior members of the club who have been more than happy so far in pre-season. All indications show that an improvement is coming but for a team that finished last season seventh on 64 points after eight successive years in the top two, just how much they need to improve could well be the biggest burning question in the entire league. Van Gaal, unlike Moyes, is not inheriting a champion. Moyes inherited a flawed team but, when they under performed, the fingers pointed at the Scotsman. This season, the players have no such excuse and little expectations. However, a squad featuring names such as Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie, Juan Mata, Luke Shaw, Adnan Januzaj, David De Gea, Michael Carrick and Herrera is clearly a team that is better than what they showed last season. It is also the perfect team to illustrate how difficult it is to judge (or predict for that matter) any team at this time in the transfer window. Van Gaal knows he needs two central defenders, a wingback, and a midfielder before the start of September and he will likely get most of them. Until we know the names of such players, it is difficult to know what United will accomplish this season but what we do know is how they need to be better. It would be inaccurate for history to tell us a tale of Uniteds demise the moment Sir Alex walked away from the job. Yes, they won the Premier League in his final season but the warning signs were there to see while he was still in charge, particularly in the true big matches (against Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham and matches in Europe). In the three seasons of 08/09, 09/10 and 10/11, United played 80 of these games, won 45, drew 18 and lost 17; a 58 per cent win percentage in big games. In the three seasons following (two under Ferguson and one under Moyes), United played 70 of these games, won 28, drew 16 and lost 26; a 40 per cent win percentage. In Fergusons final season domestically, he gained 69pts from the 26 matches outside of the top seven (22W, 3D, 1L). He got 20pts (6W, 2D, 4L) from the 12 matches against the other six. Last season under Moyes (including the four remaining games under caretaker boss Ryan Giggs), United got 58pts from the 26 matches outside of the top seven (18W, 4D, 4L), an 11-point drop over 26 games which is 0.42 points less per game for Moyes than Ferguson. If they would have secured 0.42 points less per game in the big games, United should still have come up with 15pts from the 12 matches against the top six, which would have put them at 73 at the end of the year; good enough for Champions League football in every other season other than last. Instead, they got just six points in 12 big games (1W, 3D, 8L) all under Moyes. Clearly, Moyes wasnt good enough against the lower 13 teams (0.42 PPG less than Ferguson) but against the big teams, he was incredibly poor, 1.16 PPG worse than the year previous. This is Van Gaals challenge. Whoever he signs, it is still likely he will be better than Moyes, but not quite as good as Fergusons settled side, against the 13 other teams, giving him around 20 wins, three draws and three losses for an approximate total of 63. How he does in the other 12 matches will show us whether United can challenge for the title, the Champions League spots or face another season out of the sports elite competition. Uniteds rebuild will take time and we will have to wait for answers. Van Gaals side are the only team to not play any side in the top half from last season during the first two months of the season. Expect United to start very well, watch the expectations soar but get ready to see how good they really are when the strong tests come along. Wholesale Football Jerseys China . -- Wide receiver Sidney Rice should be fully recovered from a torn knee ligament by the time the Seattle Seahawks start defence of their Super Bowl title, general manager John Schneider said Wednesday. 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DETROIT LIONS AT CHICAGO BEARS, 1:00 PM (ET) Detroit - G Rodney Austin, WR Ryan Broyles, DT Nick Fairley, QB Kellen Moore, DT Caraun Reid, CB Mohammed Seisay, DE Larry Webster Chicago - S Chris Conte, DT Brandon Dunn, QB David Fales, K Robbie Gould, CB Terrance Mitchell, OT Michael Ola, DE Trevor Scott GREEN BAY PACKERS AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS, 1:00 PM (ET) Green Bay - LB Carl Bradford, DT Bruce Gaston, C Garth Gerhart, CB Davon House, WR Jeff Janis, TE Justin Perillo, QB Scott Tolzien Tampa Bay - OT Anthony Collins, CB Isaiah Frey, WR Robert Herron, RB Mike James, WR Solomon Patton, FB/TE Evan Rodriguez, LB Lawrence Sidbury KANSAS CITY CHIEFS AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS, 1:00 PM (ET) Kansas City - WR Donnie Avery, CB Marcus Cooper, OT Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, OL Eric Kush, QB Aaron Murray, RB Charcandrick West, DT Nick Williams Pittsburgh - WR Justin Brown, DE Clifton Geathers, G Chris Hubbard, QB Landry Jones, S Troy Polamalu, TE Matt Spaeth, CB Ike Taylor MINNESOTA VIKINGS AT MIAMI DOLPHINS, 1:00 PM (ET) Minnesota - LB Anthony Barr, OT Carter Bykowski, DB Ahmad Dixon, OT Charlie Johnson, FB Zach Line, CB Shaun Prater, TE Kyle Rudolph Miami - G Nate Garner, WR Matt Hazel, S Don Jones, WR Rishard Matthews, LB Chris McCain, G Dallas Thomas, RB Daniel Thomas NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT NEW YORK JETS, 1:00 PM (ET) New England - CB Kyle Arrington, RB LeGarrette Blount, OL Dan Connolly, CB Alfonzo Dennard, OT Jordan Devey, WR Julian Edelman, RB James White NY Jets - DT T.The Minnesota Wild hope to push the Western Conference series to the limit on tonight when they host the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 from Xcel Energy Center. The Wild entered this best-of-seven series as heavy underdogs against the defending Stanley Cup champions and fell behind 2-0 in Games 1 and 2 in Chicago before evening the set at 2-2 on home ice. The Blackhawks, however, regained the upper hand in the series with a victory in Sundays Game 5 and will try to punch another ticket to the Western Conference finals tonight. You can catch all the action live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. A victory tonight would give the Blackhawks, who also won the Cup in 2010, their fourth trip to the third round in six seasons. Chicago, of course, is trying to become the first team to win consecutive Stanley Cup titles since Detroit pulled off the repeat in 1997 and 98. Chicago posted a 2-1 decision in the Windy City to grab a 3-2 lead. Jonathan Toews registered the winning goal early in the third period and Corey Crawford stopped 27 shots to put the Blackhawks one win away from the West finals. Bryan Bickell also scored and Patrick Sharp contributed a pair of assists for the Blackhawks. "The whole game, the whole series has been very tight," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we showed more determination in the puck area tonight." In order to end the series in six games, the Blackhawks will have to become the first road team in this postseason to win at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota is 5-0 in St. Paul in the 2014 playoffs and last lost a postseason game on home ice when Chicago won Game 4 of last springs opening-round series. The Blackhawks went on to win that set with a Game 5 victory on home ice. "We definitely would like to finish it there," Chicago forward Marian Hossa said of Game 6. "We know how hard it is to play in their building and we know we have to be better than we were in the last three games." If Minnesota is able to stay perfect at home on Tuesdday, the clubs will meet Thursday at the United Center for a decisive Game 7. Fake Football Jerseys Online. Erik Haula picked up the lone tally for the Wild on Sunday, while Ilya Bryzgalov made 26 saves in defeat. "We had a pretty good start, first period, but then I thought we got soft in our game," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said. Minnesota grabbed a 1-0 lead on Haulas goal with 3:27 left in the first, but Bickell tied it with a power-play goal around the midway point of the second period. The score stayed 1-1 until Chicagos captain delivered the eventual game-winner early in the third period. Chicago took a 2-1 lead with 4:33 played in the third. Hossa kept control of the puck behind the Minnesota cage and drifted from the right side back to the left before dishing into the circle for Sharp. His try to the net was furthered by Hossa, then Toews fended off a Wild checker at the right post and backhanded the rebound home. Crawford backed up the tally by stopping all 14 Minnesota shots in the final 20 minutes. Bryzgalov was called to the bench with 1:47 on the clock, and Crawford endured some close calls on crease rushes by the visitors before the buzzer. "It (stinks) to lose a game like this, and obviously when you lose, youre frustrated, youre mad," Yeo said. "But I think theres been enough in this series where we should feel confident still. That said, we also recognize that wed better be ready." Minnesota dressed defenseman Skip Prosser in place of Keith Ballard, who departed Game 4 with an upper-body injury after being checked from behind by Blackhawks forward Brandon Bollig. Ballard is questionable for Game 6, as is forward Matt Moulson, who sat out the last two games due to an unspecified lower-body injury. Bollig sat out the first of his two-game suspension levied on Saturday and will complete the ban tonight. Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw missed a fourth straight game Sunday with a lower-body injury he suffered in the series opener. He expects to sit out again on Tuesday. ' ' '