Fabio Capello
“The announcement of the England squad for an international fixtures has become more of a media circus than ever before since the appointment of Fabio Capello. His love/hate relationship with the tabloid media is currently stuck firmly in the hate column, with The Sun leading the calls for his dismissal albeit in a rather childish and uneducated way.” (A Tactical View)
England Squad Announcement: Where they might play
September 1, 2010Fiorentina 1-1 Napoli: the away side’s lopsided defensive shape works rather well
September 1, 2010“The closest thing to a ‘glamour tie’ in the first round of Serie A finished all square – 1-1 both in terms of goals and red cards. Fiorentina’s only debutant in Sinisa Mihajlovic’s first game in charge was Gaetano D’Agostino, the central playmaker who is effectively taking Stevan Jovetic’s place in Fiorentina’s 4-2-3-1 from last season. Otherwise, it was a distinctly Prandelli-esque team, with no major changes.” (Zonal Marking)
Play Up Pegasus! The Parallel Universe Of The FA Amateur Cup
September 1, 2010“This weekend marks the first ‘Non-League Day’, a concerted attempt to try and persuade supporters of the biggest clubs in Britain to take a step back from the thrills and spills of the Premier League and the Championship (since they have a day off anyway, on account of the weekend’s international matches) and take in the sights, sounds and – yes – smells of their local non-league club. By Premier League and Football League standards, even a relatively modest turn-out would make a great deal of difference to many non-league clubs, particularly the smaller ones, so we are throwing our full wait behind this concept and, to mark it, we’re giving over the rest of this week to non-league football, kicking off this evening by taking a look at the competition that was, for eighty years, the pinnacle of the non-league game: The FA Amateur Cup.” (twohundredpercent)
My Perfect 10: Rui Costa
September 1, 2010“At his peak Rui Costa had the complete attacking game – he could dribble, shoot and pass brilliantly – defenders simply didn’t know how to deal with him. Add to that a tremendous footballing brain and his tendency to drift around the pitch and make things happen rather than waiting for the ball to come to him, and he was almost impossible to nullify. He was the archetypal playmaker because he was very much a team player, always looking for a pass rather than personal glory; he had an amazing ability to utterly dominate a game without finding himself in the headlines.” (FourFourTwo)