Daily Archives: August 17, 2010

Americans Abroad: Michael Bradley shines, while Tim Howard flops

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Michael Bradley
“After all the hype and speculation surrounding a major transfer for Michael Bradley in the aftermath of the World Cup, the 23-year-old New Jersey native stayed put at Borussia Monchengladbach, and the Bundesliga club couldn’t be happier to have him. Bradley scored the opening goal in his team’s DFB Pokal (German Cup) first-round victory on Saturday, executing a give-and-go with Mohamadou Idrissou and bouncing a sliding volley from about nine yards out into the goal in the 39th minute to keep up his run of good form.” (SI)

Manchester United 3-0 Newcastle: Sublime Scholes dictates the game

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“A comfortable victory for Manchester United – the winning margin could have been greater, but Newcastle were not without their opportunities. United fielded Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov upfront together, in a fairly traditional 4-4-2 shape with two natural wingers. Newcastle played their expected 4-4-1-1 shape, with Kevin Nolan deployed in behind Andy Carroll, the lone striker.” (Zonal Marking)

The End

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“By 1977, the disco starship of the NASL had already blasted off pretty far into its groovy cartoon orbit—that was the year the New York Cosmos dropped the ‘New York’ from their name. It was a league of John Oates mustaches—half the players looked like mellow plumbers—and haystack man-perms, a green festivity of daffy-eyed showmen in 100% cotton shorts. Pelé was in his third season with the Cosmos, deep in his ‘Black Pearl’ phase and now officially representing not only Studio 54 and Andy Warhol’s eight bzillionth Factory, but the glittering expanse of all creation, everywhere: Henry Kissinger went to his games. Pelé had been the MVP of the league the season before, but he was 36 and now he was going to retire.” (Run of Play)

My Favourite Footballer…Alessandro Del Piero

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Alessandro Del Piero
“I feel in my thirties I can say this, knowing whole-heartedly that I will feel no greater affection or appreciation for any other player, past or present. I have seen better footballers, such as Maradona, who’s skills were truly breathtaking. I have seen better goalscorers, Marco Van Basten, even the eternally frustrating Fillipo Inzaghi. My appreciation of Del Piero transcends sport. I admire him greatly as a player, believing him to be both more effective and more consistent than many of his peers such as Zidane and Totti.” (The Equaliser)

Argentina mired in transition

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“Rebuilding the sense of team after the painful World Cup exit, and following on from the discharge of Diego Maradona, was never going to be easy for Argentina. Only a handful of Argentinian press travelled to Dublin, to cover the 1-0 friendly win against Ireland on Tuesday, which marked the international soccer launch of the new Aviva stadium, as well as that of Sergio “Checho” Batista’s interim appointment to the adult men’s squad.” (SI)

Fabio Capello & The Tabloid Pack Mentality: Fatuous Expectation And Poisonous

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“So it is that the love affair between the British press and the Italian comes to an end. England’s friendly match against Hungary last week was what it was – a team in transition playing a mediocre team in a pre-season friendly match – but there was no way that Capello could ‘win’ this match, especially after his response to a leading question over the future of Sir David of Beckham. The press were looking for a reason to stick the knife into Capello and twist it and this question coupled with his answer to it gave them all the ammunition that they needed, although no-one has yet indicated the real reason why this may be.” (twohundredpercent)