Vicente del Bosque
“All quiet on the Spanish league front this week, with the traditional stop-start beginning to the season dictated by the September wave of World Cup qualifiers. Spain thrashed Belgium 5-0, but that’s hardly news. Nobody expected anything else, but the blip at the hands of the USA back in June seems to have had the desired effect, and the team is looking even more awesome than before. Belgium made their contribution to this, and Spain will have harder games to contemplate in the future, but the balance of the side seemed nigh-on perfect.” (ESPN)

“Barney Ronay of The Guardian is the latest guest on the EPL Talk Podcast to discuss his newest book, The Manager: The Absurd Ascent Of The Most Important Man In Football. Ronay is best known for his appearances on the The Guardian’s Football Weekly Podcast as well as the top writers at the newspaper.” (EPL Talk)

“‘Are you seeing the beaches of South Africa for us?’ a reporter asked Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss after Slovakia’s 2-2 draw in a World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic on Saturday night. Weiss smiled tightly and said, ‘Not yet.’ The reporter may have been a tad misguided about the attraction of the beach in South Africa next June – it will be winter there – but his question was illustrative of the country’s focus on qualify for its first World Cup. Weiss’s answer was realistic. But he, like all of Slovakia, can be more than cautiously optimistic. All Slovakia has to do now is avoid defeat and this tiny nation of 5.5 million, long over-shadowed in everything by former partners the Czechs, can make its World Cup debut.” (NYT)

France/ Roman Empire
“The BBC’s recent pre-season analysis of “Where the Premier League’s players come from” offered a striking picture of the dramatic demographic changes in European soccer over recent decades. Comparing the EPL’s 2009-2010 rosters with the same clubs’ 1989-1990 rosters, I was particularly struck by the influx of African players. The same clubs that today include 44 players born in Africa only included four African born players in 1989—and those four were all white players with family ties to England (Bruce Grobbelaar at Liverpool, Iain Hesford at Hull, Gavin Nebbeling at Fulham, and John Paskin with Wolves). On the surface, this is a tremendous success story for African soccer—but stories of globalization and soccer are always more complicated than what’s on the surface.” (Pitch Invasion)

“There were two Scotland teams on Saturday. In the first half, we saw the befuddled and talentless side that floundered so badly in Amsterdam and Oslo, with Macedonia creating the better chances – such as there were any – before half time. Then, in the 56th minute, a low, awkward cross from Steven Fletcher was headed in, quite brilliantly, by Scotland’s best player, the Celtic midfielder Scott Brown. In an instant, the team were transformed. Once Scotland began playing, they were clearly better than the visitors, their superiority neatly summed up by comparing two similar chances.” (Footballing World)

“So who has been the standout for U.S. Soccer this past year? That’s the question I need to answer, as my ballot arrived just this past week for the Honda Player of Year, voted on annually by the American soccer media. If you had asked me Saturday afternoon, I would’ve said my vote probably was going to U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu, whose dominant performances in World Cup qualifying and, especially, the Confederations Cup, have made him the standout of 2009 and earned him high-profile transfer to AC Milan. I mean, how often does an American land himself a gig at Milan? (Answer: never, before Gooch.)” (SI)

Altidore, Dempsey rally U.S. to comeback win
“The United States is getting good at coming from behind in World Cup qualifiers. The Americans rallied from an early deficit and beat El Salvador 2-1 on Saturday night, moving into prime position to qualify for its sixth straight World Cup.” (SI)

“African countries are looking to profit from another change to the FIFA statutes which has further eased restrictions on players seeking to switch footballing nationality. The age limit at which players had to make a choice has been removed, letting a handful of players claim a new international career.” (WorldSoccer)

“As the Argentina squad drove sadly away from the stadium in Rosario on Saturday night there were no protests from the supporters who were still milling around. Despite the 3-1 defeat by Brazil there was applause and shouts of encouragement. So much for the team bus, but what about the coach? Argentina’s struggle to qualify for next year’s World Cup will inevitably be personalised. It is not just Argentina who are stumbling, it is ‘Diego Maradona’s Argentina’. How much responsibility should the little man bear for his team’s current plight?” (BBC – Tim Vlickery)

“Not everyone has great ideas all the time. That is simply too much to ask. For his genius in science, art, and engineering, DaVinci was a chronic procrastinator. The Spaniards likelwise slept a siesta of a first half – but finally awoke to banish Belguim with inventive buid-up play. Cuidado – la furia roja is back!” (futfanatico)

 
“You might expect to react with amazement at the jaw-dropping hubris of FIFA and UEFA, to laugh at their petty politics or to wonder at the creative geography of their World Cup groupings. So the realisation that statements and actions by both organisations might actually make sense is a strange feeling.” (WSC)

“Albion’s new head coach is a man on a mission, a man of ambition, a man in a hurry. Right man, right time, right place. Timing is all, in football as it is in life. The right job becoming available for the right applicant at the right moment, that takes the precision timing of an expensive wristwatch, every element of the movement synchronised, all falling into place. The world’s finest timepieces come from Switzerland, a nation of peace, tranquillity, a nation of peace, democracy, without conflict for half a millennium.” (First touch online)

“No lie, right now I feel like one of those monkey’s chained to Mr. Burns’typewriter tasked to write the greatest novel ever written. My mind is going a mile a minute following the U.S. National Team’s heart-attack-inducing 2-1 win over El Salvador Saturday night in CONCACAF 2010 qualifying in Sandy, Utah.” (That’s on point)

Annibale Carracci, The Martyrdom of St Stephen
“Brazil became the first South American nation to make it to the World Cup finals as they defeated old enemies Argentina 3-1 in the South American – League Group in Rosario. A brace by Luis Fabiano after a Luisao header opened the scoring helped the five-time world champions book their tickets to travel for South Africa next year.” (ESPN)

Dios Mio! Argentina’s in Trouble
“The United States kept moving methodically toward the World Cup in South Africa, but Argentina’s path took a turn for the worse with a 3-1 loss to Brazil in Rosario on Saturday night.” YouTube – (NYT)

Brazil beat Argentina to qualify
“Brazil booked their place at the 2010 World Cup with a comfortable 3-1 win which further dents Argentina’s hopes of reaching the finals in South Africa. An unmarked Luisao met Elano’s free-kick to head the visitors in front and Luis Fabiano tapped in from close range after Maicon’s shot was spilled.” (BBC)

Maradona out of ideas as Argentina outclassed in clásico
“Where now for Argentina? With less than a minute on the clock, there was an ‘Ole!’ for every pass in the Gigante de Arroyito. Usually reserved for the last five minutes of a thrashing, the crowd in Rosario couldn’t help themselves. Brazil hadn’t touched the ball and Argentina had already created a goal-scoring chance.” (Guardian)

Egypt, Cameroon get vital wins
“Egypt and Cameroon both won away from home to keep alive their chances of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Cameroon scored two quick goals to beat Gabon 2-0, in what was their first home defeat of the 2010 qualifiers.” (BBC)

Draw leaves Portugal struggling to qualify
“Portugal kept alive their World Cup qualifying hopes on Saturday when they held Group One leaders Denmark to a 1-1 draw thanks to Liedson’s 86th-minute equaliser on his international debut.” (ESPN)

England 2-1 Slovenia
“England warmed up for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Croatia on Wednesday with victory over Slovenia at Wembley. Frank Lampard’s disputed first-half penalty – an award that left the Slovenians complaining bitterly that Wayne Rooney had tumbled too easily under challenge from Bostjan Cesar – put England on course for the win.” (BBC)
Defoe continues scoring streak (ESPN)

Scots World Cup dream still alive
“Today is a day to forget about George Burley. These were the words of the Scotland manager himself in his programme notes before the crucial World Cup qualifier against Macedonia.” (BBC)
Magical McFadden gives Tartan Army reason to be cheerful (Independent)

World Cup 2010 (Guardian)

World Cup (Telegraph)

FIFA – Groups and Standings

Sep. 5 (ESPN)
Sep. 6 (ESPN)

“The ball is passed out to the wing. The winger controls the ball with the outside of his foot and runs towards a full back with a look upon his face that reminds you of a rabbit stuck in front of car headlights. Momentarily, it looks as if the winger can’t remember which leg is which but this is all an act, and he jumps away from the tackle. Approaching the byline, having looked up for no more than a tenth of a second, and crosses.” (twohundredpercent)

“International press conferences at the best of times tend to be mundane, by the numbers affairs filled with platitudes by the key figures within the national side. Not much changes when it comes to conferences prior to World Cup qualifiers, or even the finals itself, but within the words always lies a common train of thought: There are few, if any greater honours in football than representing your country at the World Cup.” (SoccerLens)

“NB: for the purposes of this article, we have gone with the same definition of a volley as suggested in this piece: namely that a volley is only a volley when it does not touch the floor between the previous player touching the ball and the ball being struck at goal (it does not matter how many touches the striker has). No, we are not naïve enough to expect all comments to adhere to this definition.” (Guardian)

“Meta: I’ll be away until Monday, which is really quite handy given the transfer window’s just closed and it’s an international break. I will miss the three-year anniversary of this blog tomorrow, but that’s no great shakes. Here’s a book review to hold you over. Don’t break anything.” (oh you beauty)

Why England Lose by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
“And now we have Why England Lose, a self-conscious attempt to write the Moneyball of football. If anyone can do it, it ought to be these two authors – Szymanski has recently published the best introduction to sports economics, Playbooks and Checkbooks, while Kuper is probably the smartest of the new generation of super-smart sportswriters. Unfortunately, their new book is a bit of a mess. It shows that doing a Moneyball is not as easy as it looks.” (Guardian)

Book Review: Why England Lose
“During this period of transfer window gossip and rumour, it is encouraging that there are those who are thinking deeply about the ‘Beautiful Game,’ to shatter some of the myths we hear daily. Simon Kuper (author of the excellent ‘Football Against The Enemy’) and sports economist Szymanski, delve about as far as is possible from the ‘will-he-won’t-he’ type journalism we are served up every day, to analyse a number of major talking points.” (101 Great Goals)

“The figure on the training pitch refereeing a practice match from the centre circle is very familiar. He is just rounder than when we last saw him. Diego Maradona has put on weight in his ten months as coach of Argentina and it is a jowly, slightly Teletubbyish character who eventually speaks.” (TimesOnline)

“Sorry for letting this blog rot away in the late August sun for so many weeks. Other work took over and left some time but not much energy to spend on other things. But the team blogs have been bursting with energy all the more at the same time and a few more came back to life, so I guess there were still enough places on The Offside for Bundesliga related updates. With a couple of lazy days during the international week coming up, it’s time to take a look at how season number 47 of the Bundesliga is shaping up so far.” (The Offside)

“When Jamaican referee Courtney Campbell whistled for the end of the World Cup qualifying match against USA, 110 million Mexicans could breathe a huge sigh of relief. The victory against their arch-rivals, the second in less than a month, meant survival in the final qualifying round on the road to South Africa 2010 but, above all, it allowed the football-crazy nation to watch their national team with pride for the first time in two years.” (World Soccer)

“No sooner is Three to See back for the season on Just-Football.com than we are rudely interrupted by the distraction of an international break in the fixture calendar. Well, not to worry; there are some intriguing fixtures lined up this weekend nevertheless as the road to the 2010 World Cup heats up. Here are 3 games we recommend tuning in for…” (Just-Football)

“Chelsea, one of the richest clubs in world soccer, was barred Thursday from registering any new player between now and January 2011. This judgment, if it sticks, will critically damage Chelsea’s ability to compete in the sport. It means that Carlo Ancelotti, who two months ago left A.C. Milan to become the new Chelsea coach, will not be able to shape the team. And it puts an unprecedented obstacle in the way of the London team, whose Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, has spent a billion dollars trying, so far in vain, to win the Champions League.” (NYT)

FIFA Gives Chelsea 1-Year Transfer Ban
“Chelsea was banned from signing any new players for a year because it encouraged a teenager to break his contract with a French team and sign with the English soccer power.” (NYT)

“I said yesterday (checks: no, make that earlier today) ‘whatever happened to Scottish football started happening in the mid-to-late seventies.’ Here’s this to bear me out, from Harry Reid’s marvellous The Final Whistle?” (More Than Mind Games)

“It’s a cruel twist of scheduling fate that after two weeks or so of club soccer (or only one week, if you’re a fan of La Liga) everybody decides to take the weekend off for an international break. Nevertheless, the interlull still represents something we’d have killed for only a month ago: competitive soccer matches that actually matter. The fact that they aren’t the competitive matches we were hoping for is unfortunate, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make the best of a bad situation.” (Avoiding the Drop)

“Deadly, lethal, prolific — just a few adjectives often used to describe Team Limey’s nightclub performances on a Saturday night. Back in the real world, these are apt descriptions of the elite goal-scorers discussed in this week’s column. More specifically, we’re looking at who we think will be donning the Golden Boot as the English Premier League’s top scorer this season.” (SI)

“Amongst the other internationals, one fixture stands out in the footballing world this Saturday. Just after nine in the evening local time, Argentina host Brazil in a match Diego Maradona’s home side can’t afford to lose if they’re to avoid – at the very least – giving fans palpitations over their qualification prospects.” (ESPN)

“The last week has been a revelation for Arsenal fans, the ugly side of football baring its teeth. Conventional wisdom suggests that you should never under-estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. The media and the football establishment have succeeded in justifying this theory.” (A Cultured Left Foot)

Domenico Zampieri, Landscape with Figures
“Thankfully no one has had to endure watching Tim Wonnacott during this transfer window, but teams have ended their bargain hunting, with varying success. Manchester City will draw interested if sceptical gazes from Wonnacott as he surveys their expensive trolley full, but will they be successful when it all goes to auction though?” (Three Match Ban)

“Since the dawn of time man has wrestled with this impossible conundrum. And following the glorious football that has generally been on display in Euro 2008 a lot of people are wondering where it stands in the pantheon of great tournaments. Coupled with this excellent Guardian blog and some terrific contributions from posters, it’s got us here at MD Towers thinking. Is it possible to assess which are the best and worst major tournaments? The simple answer is no. So here goes.” (midfielddynamo)

 
“Every club has one. That vital cog that keeps the team wheels turning. With the season in its infancy, supporters up and down the land are still harbouring dreams of glory (or at the very least over achievement, given that short of a billionaire Sheikh turning up on your doorstep, thoughts of the title are confined to a privileged few these days).” (SoccerLens)

“Yesterday’s transfer extravaganza has been likened in some quarters to rooting around in a dustbin, and the flurry of deals makes you wonder what the assorted gaffers have been doing all summer. Of course the bloated, inelegant Premier League was the focus of the more tawdry barterings, but several clubs a notch down were also in desperate mood. Nowhere has this been more the case than at the Madejski Stadium, with the door set in a permanent swing. How do the incomers and outcomers promise to shape up in their new homes?” (thetwounfortunates)

“Fabio Capello has got his England squad together and in training for the upcoming international matches, a friendly against Slovenia and what could be a decisive World Cup Qualifier against Croatia. Injuries to Rio Ferdinand and knocks to John Terry and Wes Brown will cause him some concern, but centre back is a position in which England are currently very strong, with Lescott and Upson able deputies while Bolton’s Gary Cahill has been called up as very capable cover.” (They think its all over)

“Even the proudest of Spaniards had to accept defeat; even the most enthusiastic La Liga cheerleaders were forced to pack away their pompoms. The warm glow of the European Championship success still endured – but the national team was one thing, the nation’s teams quite another. The line-up for the 2008-09 Champions League semi-finals brought Spain crashing back down to earth.” (World Soccer)

“The tangled paths that various football clubs weave across each other don’t come much stranger than the ongoing saga of Accrington Stanley and Oxford United. When Accrington resigned their place in the Football League in controversial circumstances in 1962, Oxford were elected in their place. When Oxford surprisingly fell through the trap door and into the Blue Square Premier in 2006, Accrington were promoted in their place. Now, three years later, Oxford United are top of the Blue Square Premier after an outstanding start to the season and Accrington are staring the financial abyss square in the eye again.” (twohundredpercent)

“This has been a summer of discontent in Scotland as, for the second time in a decade, mayhem hit the Scottish Premier League’s TV sponsorship deal, while the spectre of a financial crisis loomed and the national team’s hopes of World Cup qualification suffered a major blow.” (World Soccer)

“It’s set to be an open season in the Netherlands. Lack of significant investment in new players means Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV could once again struggle to fend off the challenge from the so-called “smaller” clubs. Of course, the big success story last season was AZ Alkmaar. Winning their first title since 1981 came at a price, however, because Louis van Gaal decided his work had been completed and went off to Munich.” (WSC)

“The laws of football now stretch to precisely 140 pages, but our comprehension of them could probably be covered in 140 characters. Football has always been a simple, intuitively understood game, with exceptions to that few and far between. Two spring to mind. The first is the offside law, the bane of pepper pots up and down the land. Though the ever-changing interpretation of offside has caused much confusion, it’s actually a pretty straightforward concept and one that is, at least, exactly defined. The same is not true when it comes to volleys. Depending which watercooler you lurk by, you will find an entirely different comprehension of what constitutes a volley.” (Guardian)

“In the third of a six-part series, Barney Ronay looks at the pioneering managers who brought modern football to Europe, yet remain in obscurity in their own country” (Guardian – Barney Ronay)

“I always resent the start of the football season – it seems indecent that the game of the inflated sphere should resume in August, the rightful month of the sport played with the hard leather ball. We should have a longer sabbatical from the narcissistic excesses of Cristiano Ronaldo, the shadow boxing of belligerent managers, the telephone-number salaries of men who behave louchely in bars.” (FT)

John Thomson diving at the feet of Sam English on 5th September, 1931
“Much has been said about Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva’s dive against Celtic during last Wednesday’s 2nd leg of the Champions League pre-qualifier. One split-second incident has led to questions about Michael Platini’s proposed system of 5 referees, TV technology, retrospective charges and just exactly what is it that constitutes a dive. Ultimately the player has received, as expected, a two-game ban. Is this wise or fair?” (EPL Talk)

“We’ve all been there. You’ve had Football Manager installed on your PC for about a year, you’ve won everything there is to win with Man U/Arsenal/Liverpool/Chelsea, and now you’re thinking about starting a new game with a lower league club. With the amount of takeover talk there is surrounding smaller clubs at the moment, it seems as if the bored millionaires of the world have reached that stage too.” (thetwounfortunates)

“We have all heard of the infamous Bosman ruling of 1995, when the European Court of Justice made a decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association and direct effect of article 39 of the EC Treaty. The case was an important decision on the free movement of labour and had a profound effect on the transfers of football players within the EU.” (Bleacher Report)

“The transfer window has closed and the final Premier League business has been done until January – so how are those fighting for silverware, solidity or simply survival shaping up? It was a hectic final day without a late Robinho-style blockbuster and now managers must go with what they have got and hope they have assembled the quality and depth of squad to flourish until the turn of the year.” (BBC – Phil McNulty)

“Barcelona began their quest for a second successive league title under Pep Guardiola with a routine 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon in the first round of Primera Liga action at the Nou Camp. First-half goals from Bojan Krkic and Seydou Keita set an under-strength Catalan side on their way and summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic grabbed his first for the club late on as Guardiola’s side strolled to a comfortable victory.” (ESPN)

FC Barcelona vs Gijon 3-0 Highlights
(All About FC Barcelona)

Spanish La Liga Season Preview 09/10 – Part 1: The Minnows
“Spain’s La Liga. Best league in the world? If you are judging it on the amount of frenzied anticipation built up amongst football fans around the world, probably. In terms of creating a buzz it has been a pretty damn successful summer for Spain’s top division, with the arrival of some huge, blockbuster names and the forging of so many intriguing new storylines the league is virtually bursting at the seams.” (Just-Football), Part 2: Best Of The Rest (Just-Football), Part 3: The Big Six (Just-Football)