Bolton, Burnden Park
“That’s Widnes there, the chemical town where I was born. There are several versions of this photograph in circulation, and this is the mildest. The others have had additional smoke added: perhaps the photographer knew of worse places, and wished to compete. I came along some 12 years after the Clean Air Acts, and still had acute bronchities and asthma throughout my childhood. Football training in the Victorian and Edwardian periods is subject to an urban myth, one you’ll recognise straightaway: starve the players of the ball during the week, coaches are meant to have said, and they’ll be all the hungrier for it on Saturday afternoon.” (More Than Mind Games)

“Football supporters thrive on animosity. We need to be able to shake our fists in the air and yell all the bad words at our hated teams and players. When Jose Mourinho left Chelsea, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, a gifted manager of a rival team was out the door. I wouldn’t have that same level of dread when Liverpool faced Chelsea.” (EPS Talk)

“For football, summer used to be the close season – or perhaps that should have been the closed season. Either way the game more or less shut down for three months and was pushed to the back of the nation’s mind while cricket, Wimbledon, the Open and the big race days took centre stage.” (Guardian)

Lincolnshire, England
“Awaking from our slumber after one of those tedious biennial summers without a showpiece international tournament, it slowly dawned on us: the Premier League is back at last! With only one week before the world’s pre-eminent league kicks off, we headed for Castle Limey to dust down the dungeon-sized supercomputer responsible for our EPL predictions.” (SI)

“It’s easy to climb a tree and fling shit at the vehicles of innocent safari park patrons when you’re talking about someone on a team you don’t support. But sometimes one must retreat to the makeshift, galvanise-roofed hut provided and cogitate on some home truths. So let’s provide some basic materials and see if any monkey fashions some rudimentary ant-harvesting implements from them.” (sport is a tv show – 1, 2

“So here we are less than five days away from the last relevant (hopefully) U.S. national team match before the 2010 World Cup and we’re still waiting on Bob Bradley to name a squad for the match at Azteca Stadium against Mexico. Perhaps Bradley the Elder is waiting so long to name a squad, while his Mexican non-union equivalent Steven Speilbergo, err, Javier Aquirre picked his team last week, is because the final outcome of this match will lead to direct second-guessing of Bradley.” (That’s On Point)

“In a summer when many of the Bundesliga’s leading lights have opted for a change of coach, what happens pre-season might go a long way to determining the identity of the next champions. For incoming bosses such as Louis Van Gaal (Bayern Munich), Felix Magath (Schalke), Armin Veh (Wolfsburg), Bruno Labbadia (Hamburg) and Jupp Heynckes (Leverkusen) time is uncomfortably tight. With just five or six weeks to find their bearings, lay down the law, sift the playing gold from the base metal and work on tactical variations, it is no job for the faint-hearted.” (World Soccer)

Germany’s crazy coaches
“If the surveys are anything to go by, there’s no point in speculating on the outcome of this season’s Bundesliga. Bayern for the title, Bremen for the cup, Wolfsburg and Stuttgart in the Champions League. However, pre-season pontificating about the first managerial dismissal has been conspicuous by its absence. And no wonder: not since the heady days of the bellicose Werner Lorant and lachrymose Frank Pagelsdorf a decade ago has the league had so many headcases in its coaching ranks. Anyone foolish enough to suggest a potential sacking would be well advised to go ex-directory or put on rubber gloves before opening their morning post.” (WSC)

“We’re already counted down 60 days so far in our 100 Days We’ll Remember All Our Lives countdown, with only 40 days remaining, here is your chance to catch up on the countdown so far….. This summer we look back at 100 Days We’ll Remember all our Lives; from the the 1989 Title Decider to the unforgettable 1977 European Cup Final, to Grobbelaar’s ’spaghetti legs’ in 1984 to the miracle of Istanbul in 2005.” (This is Anfield)

“The new FIFA World Rankings are out. Well, I say new, they’re actually very very similar to the July 2009 rankings, with just Germany and Italy switching places in the top 10. The way this usually works: We publish the rankings here on WCB, and then everyone complains in the comments about how inaccurate they are. And with good reason. Russia probably shouldn’t be two places above Argentina for example.” (World Cup Blog)

“This is, plain and simple, one of the best goals you will ever see. Not that every own-half goal isn’t brilliant, it’s just the pace, accuracy and trajectory with which this ball left from the boot of Kazumasa Uesato is beyond perfect. Floating with such harmless intent until landing casually in the goal, almost as though the ball was carried on a cloud steered by baby angels.” (The Offside)

Tiziano Vecellio (Titien): Le Concert Champêtre, 1509-10
“Fasten your seatbelts and set phasers to stun because Football Weekly is back! After dragging in the pod crew in at an ungodly hour, James Richardson is joined by Barry Glendenning, Sean Ingle and Kevin McCarra to ask the big questions. Can Manchester City break into the Big Four after their extravagant summer spending? Who will win the Premier League? And will AC Jimbo’s young lad have to go without shoes now Setanta has gone bust?” (Guardian)

Premier League preview No8: Liverpool
“Nineteen years have passed without league title No19 and still the prediction is that this could be Liverpool’s year. But now the expectation is justified at Anfield and so high, so unforgiving, that not even Xabi Alonso’s departure diminishes the demand on Rafael Benítez. Regaining the mantle of England’s most decorated champions from Manchester United is imperative.” (Guardian)

“Is German soccer in trouble? A German club hasn’t won the Champions League in eight years, and success in the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) has been few and far between as well. World Soccer chats with German national-team coach Joachim Löw, who explains the need for speed at the top level, not just in the legs, but in the mind, too.” (SI)

“As the only white player in South Africa’s starting line-up, Matthew Booth accepts he “sticks out like a sore thumb” every time they play. This led some foreign observers to assume he was being booed by the predominantly black crowds at this summer’s Confederations Cup, when in fact the complete opposite was the case. The 6ft 6in central defender is a firm favourite with the fans of Bafana Bafana, who greet his every touch with loud cries of ‘Booooth!'” (BBC)

“Every football season begins with a ‘clampdown’. Traditionally this involves referees acting on new directives to punish foul play. The result is a spate of bookings and dismissals in the early months of the season, accompanied by an outcry from managers. Referees then loosen their interpretation of the rules a little – often after a meeting with managers at which ‘robust views’ are exchanged – and we end up roughly back to how things were before, except that at least one match official will have been maligned in highly personal terms.” (WSC)

“The world’s biggest party is fast approaching. In less than 12 months, throngs of joyous fans will journey to South Africa, bringing the World Cup to Africa for the first time. Aficionados without tickets will snuggle up to the TV: More than 715 million viewers watched Italy’s dramatic win over France in the 2006 final in Germany. To put that into perspective for U.S. fans, about 151 million took in this year’s Super Bowl.” (ESPN)

“The news that Tomas Rosicky is out for six weeks comes as little surprise yet is still saddening nonetheless. The Czech international tweaked a hamstring in training yesterday, another aspect which is totally unsurprising having been out for so long. Echoes of Eduardo’s recovery resound around this incident. As far as the squad goes, it is obviously a blow when combined with the absence of Samir Nasri yet it would have been surprising if Rosicky had reclaimed a place in the starting XI immediately having been out for so long.” (A Cultured Left Foot)

“If Steven Gerrard is the heart of Liverpool then Xabi Alonso was one of the lungs. So Liverpool just lost a lung. It’s lung-wrenching. I know they have a potential organ donor lined up (AS Roma) and that a new lung (Alberto Aquilani) could be on the way already, but what if the operation doesn’t take? They won’t know until the season gets going.” (EPL Talk)

Liverpool agree fee for Aquilani
“Liverpool have confirmed they have agreed a fee with Roma for Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani. The transfer is reported to be worth £20m and is subject to a medical being completed later in the week. ‘Alberto has a winning mentality and great experience in both Serie A and the Champions League,’ said Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.” (BBC)

Alonso saga? Done
“Another morning, another celebration in soccernet towers that we can put another drawn out transfer saga to bed. The Telegraph pitch it right by declaring we can all ‘move on’ now Xabi Alonso is about to become a Real Madrid player, for the princely sum of £30m.” (ESPN)

“The itch, the burn, the fire, nothing has stirred the pot like the exorbitant City sums in this summer’s transfer market. A club outside the top 4 has a wealthy, solvent, and interested investor. He has purchased several quality players. What’s the problem?” (futfanatico)

“There’s a dark cloud hanging over Scottish football right now. It’s a bit grim up north and that’s before the domestic action has even started. Budgets have been slashed and squads have been severely cut as the credit crunch really starts to bite. Celtic, Aberdeen, Motherwell and Falkirk all appointed new bosses during the close season only for all three to suffer disappointing European defeats to further increase the doom and gloom.” (ESPN)

“I really tried to care about the Gold Cup. After the group stages, I got pumped up; I told myself I was going to have the best Gold Cup commentary on the Internet. Then the United States played Panama in the quarterfinals and I fell asleep in about the 20th minute. Then the U.S. played Honduras is the semifinals and I fell asleep in about the 30th minute. Gold Cup matches were like taking NyQuil is visual form.” (Intelligent Soccer)

“In the fashion of a heavyweight champion from the time when boxing fans cared about multiple titles, FC Barcelona flashed the hardware of its fearsomeness. Arrayed below the news conference podium Monday at a downtown Seattle hotel were trophies representing the 2008-09 championships of Spain’s first division, the nation’s Copa del Rey tournament and the European Champions League — the first Spanish team to win all three in a single season.” (SeattlePI)

“Jozy Altidore seems to be handling this Twitter thing a little better than Darren Bent. While Bent tossed his toys out of the pram in 140 characters or less, the teenage American striker calmly tweeted to his followers: England early in the morning so im going to get some sleep ill tweet all day tomorrow on my bb and let you guys know whats going on! He then thanked his followers for their support. I would check to see if Bent has ever done.” (EPL Talk)

“Fifteen years ago last month, the U.S. played host to an important moment in soccer history. Of all five of Brazil’s World Cup wins, USA 1994 was probably the least glamorous. The team didn’t play with the style and swagger of 1958 or ’70, and for all the superb strike combinations of Bebeto and Romário, there was no one to touch the heights of Garrincha in ’62, or to match Ronaldo’s magnificent and touching comeback 40 years later.” (SI – Tim Vickery)

“It’s all in the timing. The BBC couldn’t have chosen a better time to run a special report on the state of finances in English football. The eve of the new English season is a time of optimism at most clubs, but in an interview with Radio5’s Dan Road, the UEFA general secretary David Taylor expressed concerns about many aspects of the way that Premier League clubs in particular are running themselves, singling out the saddling of clubs with debt and the transfer activity of some (hello, Manchester City) as having a destabilising effect on the health of the transfer market.” (twohundredpercent)

“With less than a year to go until the World Cup, England are sitting pretty in their World Cup qualification group. With qualification all but assured, now attentions will turn to who could be in England’s plans for South Africa. English World Cup squads have a history of featuring late-comers to their squad who go on to play starring roles in their respective tournaments.” (Soccer Lens)

“The 2009-10 German Bundesliga season is set to begin on Friday August 7, 2009 as Wolfsburg look to defend the league trophy. The Bundesliga was very competitive last season with the gap between the top 6 teams at only 10 points. Bayern Munich finished a disappointing 2nd but will be looking to regain the league trophy as they have retained most of their top players. Here’s a preview of the upcoming season along with predictions (which will likely be wrong but its worth a shot to try).” (The 90th Minute)

“At the beginning of every season, as the kick-off edges ever closer, my anticipation of the excitement to come can rarely be contained and I am compelled to make my predictions for the coming season, in the vain hope that it will bring the start just a little bit closer.” (Three Match Ban)

“After all, Burley was the last player to score for Scotland in the finals of a major tournament – in the 1-1 draw against Norway at France 98 – and, on top of having been enlisted by ESPN as a match analyst for their SPL coverage next season, he is also the nephew of Scotland’s current manager, George Burley.” (Telegraph)

“Roy Hodgson discusses the most popular of formations.” (uefa 4-4-2), (uefa 4-4-2 Diamond), (uefa 5-3-2), (uefa 4-3-3), (uefa 3-4-3), (uefa 3-5-2), (uefa 4-5-1)

“Roughly two years ago, Alessandro Rosina was all the rage on the peninsula. His dribbling, running, tenacity, circus midget size and male-pattern baldness endeared him to men, women and children alike. His nickname, Rosinaldo, was both self-explanatory and deserved. Any team would’ve been chuffed to bits to have him. The lone star on a once-great team which had few reasons for optimism in its stable, shone brightly across the Italian sky.” (The Offside)

“With five days left until the start of the new season, at least some of the television schedule still seems to be in a state of flux. The Football Conference is reported to still be in negotiation with a broadcaster (rumoured to be Eurosport) regarding a package that is said to be worth £70,000 per club, although Blue Square North and South clubs are now likely to be missing out on the £15,000 that they had been receiving from Setanta. More significant, however, is the final unveiling of the coverage that the BBC will be giving The Football League, as they take over from ITV as the secondary broadcasters of the world’s oldest league competition.” (twohundredpercent)

“It has been a rollercoaster week in Irish football, a week of spectacular highs and incredible lows. But yesterday Cork City FC lived up to their nickname of the ‘rebels’ by winning their battle against the Revenue Commission to avoid a winding up order, which would have relegated the club from the League of Ireland after a 25 year exsistance.” (Two Footed Tackle)

“It pains me to say it, but Tottenham have never really hit the big time with me as a fan. My older Lillywhite friends tell me that we used to win European trophies (1963 Cup Winners Cup, 1972 Uefa Cup) and that we always had a good cup run in years ending in a one. More recently though, accolades have been a little harder to come by, but I think Spurs do have some outstanding achievements. We are exceptional in the Milk Cup. We love buying average players for £15m. And we adore acquiring slightly weird foreign players. The oddballs of European football. Personal favourites include Nicola Berti, Willem Korsten, Moussa Saib, Jose Dominguez and the star of the wolf-pack, Ilie Dumitrescu.” (Three Match Ban)

Raft of the Medusa – Theodore Gericault 
“As England prepare to take on the hosts Ukraine in the final of the Under-19 European Championship in Donetsk tomorrow, Jonathan Wilson chooses the ten best players of the tournament and considers their prospects for the future” (Independent)

“Romeo and Juliet they might not be, but Laurent Blanc and Didier Deschamps could – almost – be the stars of a footballing remake of William Shakespeare’s classic tale of tough love. The two former international team-mates may not be devoted to each other in the carnal sense, but there is more than a mutual respect between the two men who hung up their international spurs together after the European championships in 2000.” (ESPN)

“In comments yesterday, George Szirtes enquired rhetorically about why Bobby Robson was so loved, and he answers his own question magnificently here. ‘The right sort of sportsman’, in other words. Most of the great football clubs of England were founded by firms or by churches to provide godly uplifting activity and entertainment to men in what were supposedly the morally-dangerous surroundings of the urban industrial north.” (More Than Mind Games)

“Gold Cups, disgruntled players trading places, this week was chock full of action on both the European transfer front and in North America. Here is a recap of the goings-ons and what-have-you’s. In the Nou Camp, Barcelona finally got rid of their perpetually disgruntled yet brilliantly prolific striker and they only had to pay Inter a mere $45 million Euros! The best part – Barcelona did not have to borrow one cent to pay Inter. Oh, and they also signed Ibrahimovic.” (Futfanation)

“The summer gravy train has run two-thirds of its journey from June through August, and Franck Ribéry is not yet aboard. When the transfer season in human potential began, the five most coveted soccer players in the world were Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Kaká, Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres and Ribéry.” (NYT)

“Do you trust Sir Alex Ferguson when he tells you something? Well, the papers have probably got their fingers burned one too many times and are now totally sure that he’ll spend some of the Ronaldo cash before the end of the season, despite saying he won’t. Three papers. Three different potential transfer targets . And we’ll start with the News of the World who think that Valencia’s David Silva is the man to fill the United midfield with some proven quality.” (Paper Round)

“Atletico were beaten eventually by Andrei Arshavin’s late double strike, leaving Arsene with enough food for thought for the upcoming campaign. Not too much should be read into anything at this stage since there are still two weeks to go before the Premier League season begins. Even so, Wenger will have been relieved that the good work culminating in Arshavin’s opener was not left undone by a poor equaliser to concede, minutes later.” (A Cultured Left Foot)

“You don’t run into a lot of Irish folks in Africa. Lots of Canadians, Norwegians, Japanese, and Australians but very few Irish. Maybe that helps to explain why Sport Against Racism Ireland was among the groups who, during June’s Confederations Cup in South Africa, were quick to assume that predominantly black crowds were booing the lone white player on the South African national team Matthew Booth.’ In fact, the crowd was celebrating Booth by enunciating and elongating his name: ‘BOOOOTH.’ The sounds are certainly easy to confuse. But the meanings could only be confused by anyone who hasn’t spent much time in Africa.” (Pitch Invasion)

“I’m probably the most unlikely soccer/football fan in the world — probably because I’m from rural Mississippi. I studied international politics at Georgetown University, and did some research on the World Cup and sports diplomacy. I’ve never played competitively, but I’m a world traveler and have a habit of playing in pickup games in the strangest places, like in the courtyard of a castle in Slovakia and at a bus stop in Cambodia.” (NYT)

“Something new for you now on SPAOTP. Here’s Sp3ktor with the first in a regular series of round-ups on Italian football – and what better way to start than a look at each of the twenty participating clubs.” SPAOTP

“A fair few, would be the short answer, and we have already covered testimonials gone bad in the Knowledge before, but a few stand-out examples do spring to mind and none more so than QPR’s fracas with China’s Olympic team in 2007. China had been holding a two-week training camp in England, but seven players had to be sent home after a brawl that involved almost every player on the pitch plus a number of coaches and bystanders.” (Guardian)

“Ah, Sir Tom Finney, one of the finest exponents of footballing skill ever to wear the shirt of England is a living legend. A gentleman and a true star of the post war game, Finney epitomises everything that was great about those halcyon days of English football. Born in Preston, in 1922, Finney is a rare breed of footballers that saw active service in the Second World War and continued playing up to 1960.” (EPL Talk)

“Here’s the latest European Transfer News on Liverpool player Xabi Alonso and his intention to transfer to Real Madrid. Alonso transfer to be decided on Monday – Xabi Alonso is due to fly back to Spain with Liverpool on Saturday as the negotiations over his possible transfer drag on.” (The 90th Minute)

“Gordon Strachan claimed in the aftermath of Celtic’s 5–0 defeat to Artmedia Bratislava four years ago that his new club could still win the tie by virtue of an astonishing second-leg reversal. ‘Maybe you’ll want to put a dunce’s hat on my head, but that’s what I believe,’ said the manager. ‘Happy to oblige, Gordon’ read the sub-headline in a Scottish tabloid; Strachan had briskly realised, as he later and colourfully acknowledged, that judgments move on to a different level where the Old Firm are concerned.” (Guardian)