Daily Archives: September 21, 2010

Are Liverpool Using The Correct Formation?

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“Argent a Cormorant in the beak a Branch of Seaweed called Laver all proper.”
“Watching Liverpool thus far this season, it’s apparent that things are not how they are supposed to be. They are not scoring as they should and they are not really that convincing at the back. Roy Hodgson admitted that his transfer activity was a bit limited, but as they say, the show must go on. Until January or even the summer, Hodgson’s managerial credentials and experience would be put to the ultimate test. He is going to have to make the best out of the club’s current plight. His playing staff, although threadbare, is by no means hopeless. How can he get the best out of them and thus stop the club from it’s ignominious free-fall into oblivion?” (Flix and Trix)

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The Myth of the Meaningless Friendly

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“A funny thing happens during international friendlies, particualrly when a team loses. Invariably, cries that “this game doesn’t matter” eminate from supporters, conveying a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of international friendlies. In many ways, it’s self-delusion at its finest. It’s like a jaded boyfriend saying, “I didn’t like her anyway,” after a girlfriend breaks up with him. These are defense mechanisms signifying denial and/or hurt, which is why you rarely hear this refrain after an emphatic victory.” (Nutmeg Radio)

The Billionaire Test

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“I have a new piece in Slate about the Hicks-Gillett-Glazers tycoon implosion and the fan protests at Liverpool and Manchester United. While I was working on the piece, it occurred to me that in this age of billionaire owners, in which every club, no matter how Portsmouth-y, can be plausibly linked to a gasp-wrenching imaginary stock portfolio, there are really two kinds of billionaires: billionaires and fake billionaires. Billionaires live in space, sleep in chocolate and eat a helicopter as a snack. Fake billionaires drive around looking important on the way to being yelled at by suburban bank managers.” (Run of Play)

Video Of The Week: The Game Of Their Lives

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“Continuing on the political theme that we started last week with ‘Football & Fascism’, this week’s Video Of The Week continues on the same wavelength with another terrific BBC documentary, ‘The Game Of Their Lives’. This film, which is not to be confused with the atrocious American film of the same name about the 1950 World Cup finals, tells the story of the North Korean team of the 1966 World Cup finals, their brief love affair with the supporters of Middlesbrough Football Club and what happened to the team afterwards. Filmed on 2002 by Daniel Gordon, it goes beyond merely telling the story of their surprise elimination of Italy from the tournament from the point of view of the players and into the country of North Korea itself.” (twohundredpercent)

Football’s Greatest Managers: #8 Brian Clough

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“Few football coaches have grabbed the public’s attention through sheer force of personality in quite the same fashion as Brian Howard Clough. An intoxicating mix of intelligence, arrogance and abrasiveness, Clough was the antithesis of the mid-twentieth century stereotype which saw British managers as gentlemanly sorts who played the game to strengthen their moral fibre rather than to win at all costs.” (The Equaliser)

Meet Europe’s most dysfunctional club

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“Michel Estevan looks on helplessly from the stands, his arms folded, protecting him from the unforgiving wind blowing around the Parc des Sports. Below him are Arles-Avignon, the team he had built from scratch, the team that was no longer his, playing a derby against the champions Marseille, a derby no one ever thought possible. Just five years ago, Arles resided in CFA 2, France’s fifth tier. This was a team of postmen, insurance salesman and shop assistants. All they needed was a magician, but not the part-time sort who does birthdays and bar mitzvahs, rather one who can conjure results out of nothing.” (FourFourTwo)

Willem II 2 – 4 ADO Den Haag: Willem II lacking manpower upfront and ADO producing another high-scoring game

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“Willem II and ADO Den Haag are amongst the teams that expected to battle against relegation this year. The ‘Tilburg Tricolores’ avoided relegation only in the play-offs of the past season after finishing in 17th place, while ADO only just avoided these play-offs by grabbing six points from the final four games of the season.” (11 tegen 11)

Triestina’s virtual fans anger the regulars

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“Jorge Luis Borges composed a short story 43 years ago that took as its subject the final football game ever to be played in a ‘real’ stadium. ‘Football, like all sport, is a kind of drama interpreted by one man alone in a projection room or by actors in front of a cameraman,’ Borges wrote. This was football’s 1984 moment, a dystopia that no one really ever thought possible. Sadly it’s already happening at Serie B side Triestina.” (WSC)

Blanc: Rebuilding France starts from bottom

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“Rebuilding France after its World Cup debacle means starting from the bottom and changing selection criteria from the youngest players up while looking to Spain as a model, according to coach Laurent Blanc. Blanc said on Tuesday that France’s current criteria would mean even Spanish standouts like Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta would have trouble coming up the ranks.” (Yahoo)