Daily Archives: August 1, 2010

Football’s Latest Pointless Rule: The 25-Man Squad List


Exequias de un emperador romano, Domenico Zampieri
“Arsene Wenger is today being quoted as stating that the new Premier League rule reducing squad sizes to 25, as being “a disastrous decision for football and for the players”. When the rule was introduced, the rules stating that Premier League clubs had to have a ‘Squad List’ of just 25, with eight of these being ‘Home Grown’, it was seen as a great thing for the England football team.” (twohundredpercent)

Whatever happened to Senegal?

“Cast your mind back, if you will, eight years to the 2002 World Cup. It’s a sultry night in Seoul and France, defending champions and one of the hot favourites for the title, are facing Senegal, a country playing its first ever game in a World Cup finals. A momentary lapse in concentration sees Youri Djorkaeef loses possession on the half-way line and the Senegalese break with Omar Daf putting El-Hadji Diouf – a relatively unknown forward plying his trade for Lens – away down the left side. Diouf, balanced and composed, comes slightly in-field and reaches the by-line before cutting the ball back into the box.” (The Equaliser)

Pac-Men

“In Argentina, a player who covers the defensive midfield position just in front of the defenders, if he gains enough notoriety, becomes known as a ‘Pac-Man’. This refers to the way certain players gobble up loose balls in midfield like life-sized Pac-Men chomping on white dots. The analogy falls a little flat when you add in colourful predator/ prey ghosts, but hey, it’s still good. Here are five of the best Pac-Men (or Pacmans as they are known in Argentina) going around at the moment.” (argentina football world)

Internazionale (Inter Milan) 3-0 Manchester City – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Friendly – 31 July 2010


“Inter Milan kicked off their pre-season tour in the USA with a match against EPL side Manchester City on Saturday, July 31, 2010. It would be the last pre-season match in the USA for City who are heading back to Europe before the start of the 2010-11 season.” (The 90th Minute)

The Premier League 2010/11 Previews 4 – Blackburn Rovers: A Summer Of Silence

“Blackburn Rovers finished last season in a creditable tenth place in the Premier League but, with just over two weeks left until start of the new season do Blackburn supporters have cause to be concerned that, this season, the trapdoor may be a little close for comfort? They have, after all, had an exceptionally quiet summer in the transfer market and, if the bottom half of the table does feel as if it is likely to be a pretty congested place to be over the next nine months, the dread possibility of a return to the Football League may loom in the back of supporters’ minds, though these doubts may start to recede if the club passes, as it is expected to, into new ownership although, as supporters of many other clubs will testify, moving into new ownership is far from a guarantee of future success.” (twohundredpercent)

Zenit St Petersburg reach pivotal stage in relentless title march

“A victory for Zenit St Petersburg at home to Rubin Kazan on Saturday would not guarantee them the league title but it would give them a lead of at least nine points with half of the Russian season played. They have been relentless of late, unbeaten since Luciano Spalletti took charge in December – their last defeat, in fact, came against FK Moskva on 31 October – and Saturday’s 3-1 win at Rostov was their eighth in a row in the league.” (Guardian – Jonathan Wilson)