Johan Cruyff
“Nearly 40 years after Netherlands legends Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff unleashed Total Football on an unexpecting world, along comes a Dutchman espousing a new philosophy – periodisation.” BBC
“In Central and South America the legacy of Andres Escobar’s death in 1994 appears to have left lessons unlearnt. Here’s Chris Ledger.” In Bed With Maradona
“Arsenal need a win to guarantee progression to the knockout stages of the Champions League, but Partizan Belgrade, with no points so far, are unlikely to provide much of an obstacle. Here are five tactical points about the game, and Arsenal’s European campaign in general.” ITV
“This week’s Video Of The Week is a very special find from YouTube, the first part of the BBC’s 1995 documentary series on the history of European football, “Fussball, Football, Voetbal”. Recorded as part of the build-up to the 1996 European Championships, this two-parter, narrated by John Motson, traces the history of European club football, with the first episode coming at the subject from the point of view of British clubs, and the second from the point of view of some of the major continental powers. If you can get past the slightly oversentimental tone of some of it, it features one of the finest collections of archive footage of European football that can be seen in any single place. Our thanks go to the original uploader of this wonderful documentary series.” twohundredpercent
“We try and avoid the mainstream games as much as we can here at TBIR. You can pick up any newspaper and read a million different views on Carlos Tevez’s strop with Mancini, or that Arsene simply “didn’t see it”, but it is a bit harder to find the real details about the games that count. And that is why we have moved heaven and earth to sign up Mark Pitman to TBIR who will be bringing us the inside view on Port Talbot Town in the Welsh Premier League.” The Ball Is Round
“Villarreal produced a decent performance to remain ‘best of the rest’ in La Liga. Juan Carlos Garrido gave a rare start to Jose Manuel Catala at left-back ahead of Joan Capdevila. Marcos Senna started alongside Bruno Soriano in the centre of midfield, while Santi Cazorla started on the right, Cani on the left.” Zonal Marking
“Boca Juniors at long last claimed another win on Sunday with a 1-0 defeat of Quilmes in La Bombonera. After recent talk of veterans – including on the Hand Of Pod – it was 20-year-old Cristian Erbes who got the only goal of the game midway through the second half. Elsewhere on Sunday, Vélez Sarsfield kept the pressure on Estudiantes with a 4-0 away tonking of Godoy Cruz. The hosts qualified for the 2011 Copa Libertadores all the same though, courtesy of Newell’s Old Boys dropping points in a 0-0 away draw to San Lorenzo. Highlights from these and the day’s other two games – a 3-1 win for Tigre over Huracán, and a 0-0 draw between Lanús and Independiente – are here right now, as are all the weekend’s scores and scorers.” Hasta El Gol Siempre
“I have to confess I am mystified why it has taken me so long to pencil in a football weekend in Hamburg. If you want to dive head first into two distinct cultural differences of German football, it does not come more fascinating than Hamburg SV and FC St Pauli. My preconceptions of Hamburg SV were of a traditional club, whose loyal working class supporters regularly troop out to the modern out of city centre sports stadium, Imtech Arena. The club has never been relegated from the Bundesliga and there love for former player Kevin Keegan is only matched back in Newcastle.” Budget Airline Football
Fan Power and the Brown Revolution
“You might not know it, but there is a myth in Europe that FC St Pauli are marketing and PR geniuses. The self-styled punks of European football, symbolised by their skull and crossbones symbol, have never played a competitive match outside of Germany, nor have they played much football in the Bundesliga. Yet despite this, there is considerable interest in the boys in brown and specifically in their supporters.” In Bed With Maradona
“Many of us spent last Saturday afternoon sitting at home with nothing better to do than watch “Carry On Camping” on the television, but recent winters have been some way off the worst of the lot. In this (slightly amended) article, first written for Twohundredpercent in December of last year after a similar white blanket covered the country, we took the chance to look back upon the 1962/63 season.” twohundredpercent.net
“Two Cristiano Ronaldo goals gave Real an important three points at the Bernabeu. Jose Mourinho changed to a 4-3-3 system for this game, with Karim Benzema replaced with Lassana Diarra and Cristiano Ronaldo used as the lone forward. Ricardo Carvalho and Sergio Ramos were replaced by Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa at the back.” Zonal Marking
“A brand new pastime has been added to the favourite hobbies of the good people of Spain, which currently include the mass blocking of pavements by groups of dithering pedestrians and taking three days off work in the middle of a crushing economic recession – a luxury afforded by bank holidays on Monday and Wednesday, no less. This new manner of getting through those long, cold Iberian nights is to get one’s knickers in a right old twist about Barcelona – and more particularly – Pep Guardiola supposedly insulting Osasuna, the people of Pamplona, Real Madrid, la Liga, and probably his Majesty the King of Spain, too.” Football 365
“This week, the FIFA executive committee convened in the ‘House of Football’ a secretive, lavish and generally ostentatious layer nestled in the heart of Zurich, insulated from the public and out of touch with reality. FIFA welcomed the nine bid committees vying to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups – England, United States, Spain/Portugal, Holland/Belgium, Russia, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Qatar.” Soccer Politics
“Below are Match Of The Day (MOTD) video highlights for all the EPL matches on December 4, 2010. If a link is unavailable, it will be added later.” The 90th Minute
“In October 1954, a very special game of football was played. Billed as a friendly, the political stakes could hardly have been higher. Welcome to IBWM, Nick Wright.” In Bed With Maradona
“The first instalment of our Writers series is with noted sportswriter, Paul Tomkins. Paul has authored 9 books now, including his most recent work, Pay As You Play, an inside look at the financial implications of winning in the Premiership. Paul and his collaborators created a new metric, TPI (Transfer Price Index) to evaluate the transfer performance of managers since the inception of the EPL. Applying the precision of an accountant to the at times “intuitive” nature of football transfers, Pay As You Play depicts a much more accurate picture of which managers are great at what they do and which aren’t (although they may claim otherwise!)” 12 Yards Footy
Mutual respect for mediocrity spawned this fine bromance
“We’ve all had enough pain. We’ve all had enough misery and dissembling. But the next 24 hours will bring more, although it will be disguised as a heart-warming story of friends re-united. Gerard Houllier returns to Anfield tomorrow and he will be met there by his great friend Roy Hodgson. If you had Roy Hodgson’s away record, you too would have many friends in football. Since August 2009, Hodgson has won two league matches away from home, so it is no surprise he is greeted warmly wherever he goes.” Independent
“Was this the week that Marseille’s title defence began in earnest? A 4-0 win at home to Montpellier last Saturday took the champions back to the summit, above Lille on goal difference, and a goalless draw in the re-arranged game against Rennes on Wednesday sent them a point clear. Steve Mandanda saved an early penalty by Rennes’ Jirès Kembo Ekoko to prevent OM falling behind, with Lucho González squandering a superb chance late in the game when he side-footed wide from 12 yards.” Football Further
“A scoreline that barely makes sense given the away side’s dominance for the majority of the game. Felix Magath lined up with a lopsided and frankly disorganised 4-4-2 / 4-4-2 diamond shape. Jermaine Jones and Jefferson Farfan were dropped after last week’s 5-0 defeat to Kaiserslautern. Jose Jurado came in as a playmaker drifting to the left, and Ivan Rakitic played on the left of the centre of midfield.” Zonal Marking
“The Polish league has never really been an attractive one to those in modern Western countries with their modern football. For years, the Ekstraklasa was known only for it’s seismic corruption scandal (that has now been solved, hopefully), the few goalkeepers that made it to a better world and an international team that had their heyday in the 1970′s and 1980s’s. Were it not for the fact that Poland will co-host Euro 2012, you would, frankly, have little reason to pay any attention at all. But they are, you do, and since the games scheduled to see out 2010 have been postponed until February, it’s time for a mid-season roundup.” In Bed With Maradona
“The Baur au Lac hotel, a five-star palace on the banks of Lake Zurich, was the epicenter of The Game here this week: the final lobbying of the nine bids vying to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. As the official hotel of the FIFA Executive Committee, the 22 men who choose the World Cup hosts, the opulent Baur au Lac welcomed all manner of dignitaries this week, from former President Bill Clinton and David Beckham to Prince William and British Prime Minister David Cameron.” SI
World Cup 2018: The men who betrayed England and why they did it
“The morning after the night before, the shell‑shocked England 2018 chief executive, Andy Anson, shakes his head as he attempts to unpick why their core vote collapsed. “I still find it hard to understand what happened,” he said. ‘I’m not going to beat around the bush – individual members promised to vote for us and didn’t, clearly.'” Guardian
“Wolfsburg and Bremen played out an entertaining scoreless draw but one that’ll only truly live on in the memory for Edin Džeko’s petulant reaction to being substituted. Bremen came into this game with a number of absentees, including Claudio Pizarro, Wesley, Naldo, and Tim Borowski. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, made do without just two first-choice players – Arne Friedrich, and Grafite.” Defensive Midfielder
“Mauro Zarate was the star man as Lazio moved joint top of Serie A. Eddy Reja kept a 4-2-3-1 system, making one change – bringing in Matuzalem for Cristian Ledesma in the centre of midfield. Rafael Benitez continues to have serious injury problems. Felice Natalino started at right-back, with Ivan Cordoba moving into the centre. Sulley Muntari started on the left.” Zonal Marking
“My Football Manager journey began back in 1993. I was playing the Commodore Amiga, the game was called Championship Manager and the makers went by the unimpressive name of Domark. If you are wondering how this relates to the game currently known as Football Manager then this story is probably not for you. Domark were soon swallowed up by Eidos, who developed the Championship Manager series into a global phenomenon before splitting from the brand name to create Football Manager. But let’s start at the beginning.” Ghost Goal
“Many of us have watched our team drift away from the clubs with big cash and thought; this isn’t right, is there an alternative? Screw the cash, revolution is in the air, here’s Nick Rosano on the MLS.” In Bed With Maradona
“The stifling of domestic talent is a concern that many countries with a strong league face. While Spain and Germany just about get the balance right, England stutters. Domm Norris looks at the issue in Russia.”
In Bed With Maradona
“Today, the talk of the soccer world is Barcelona’s sublime 5-0 destruction of Real Madrid. Come Thursday, though, for a brief moment at least, international soccer will grab the spotlight once again, as FIFA announces the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Political leaders and celebrities—from David Cameron to Elle MacPherson—from eleven prospective host countries have descended on FIFA’s Geneva headquarters for last-minute lobbying of the 22 executive committee voters.” The New Republic
“After a week of chaos in the world of Scottish football, and with an enforced rest coming up due to the weather, it’s time for all parties to take a step back and take stock of the situation. On the SFA’s side, the two men at the centre of the controversy have now gone – one sacked and one resigned, although in the latter case it’s difficult to see that referee Dougie McDonald had much option, the only issue was about the timing. Opinions varied on how serious was his offence in telling his “white lie” to both Neil Lennon and to the refereeing supervisor. I’ve give my own opinion in previous articles and don’t intend to go through it again; but whatever the initial rights and wrongs, it was clear that his continued presence, and the continued media focus that would accompany his every match and his every mistake, was becoming a hindrance to the cause of his colleagues.” twohundredpercent
“PSV went into this fifth Europa League match knowing that a draw would be enough to secure a place among the final 32 teams. Sampdoria, on the other hand, were in need of a win to keep their hopes of qualifying alive.” 11 tegen 11
“When Tottenham Hotspur were three-nil down to Young Boys Bern after only 30 minutes of their Champions League qualifying match in August, it looked for all the world as if their European adventure would be over as soon as it had started. With Michael Dawson and Sebastian Bassong doing passable imitations of Bambi on ice, the Swiss minnows were ripping the North Londoners a new one every time they attacked. After many years of waiting for a chance to have a crack at Europe’s elite, the hopes and dreams of the Spurs fans were disintegrating before their eyes on YB’s plastic pitch.” The Swiss Ramble
“In the aftermath of Barcelona’s incredible 5-0 win over Real Madrid in the clásico Monday, here are some postgame reflections…” SI
La Liga Lowdown, Jornada 13: Magnificent Barcelona victorious in El Clásico
“After weeks of constant hype, Barcelona and Real Madrid finally met in the Camp Nou last night for the first Clásico of the season. Weeks of “Messi vs Cristiano”, “Guardiola vs Mourinho” were finally put to an end as Barça emerged as winners. And, not only did they win, they did it in style – their style.” Just Football
Barcelona, the ‘Orgasm Team’, win another epoch-defining clásico
“Eric Abidal raised his hand. Gerard Piqué raised his. And then the crowd that engulfed Jeffrén Suárez raised theirs. Víctor Valdés raised his, latex glistening in the light and soon the rest of Camp Nou joined in. So did the fans who gathered down the Ramblas – palms open, fingers outstretched. Not far away, a hand was being raised on the front cover of Sport. On the back, its cartoonist was taking the easy way out. ‘Today, instead of drawing,’ he wrote, ‘I have decided to scan my hand.’ So he did.” Guardian
What does Mourinho have on the drawing board?“In January this year, Football Further examined the first few months of Manuel Pellegrini’s stint as Real Madrid coach and discovered that he fielded 16 different midfield and attack configurations in his first 16 league matches. Pellegrini’s time at Real ended in disappointment – despite phenomenal success in the goalscoring department – and a look at how his successor, José Mourinho, has approached team selection in the early weeks of his tenure reveals a very different style.” Football Further
“Working class icon. World-record breaking sprinter. African royalty. Goalkeeper. Arthur Wharton’s story is worth a few moments of your time, Josh Clarke elaborates.” In Bed With Maradona
“It’s been several years since the Gunners won a trophy but will this season be any different? Arsenal are still alive in all competitions (Carling Cup, FA Cup, Champions League, EPL) and below is a closer look at their chances in each one.” The 90th Minute
Scissors Kick 