“Manuel Francisco dos Santos (October 28, 1933 – January 20, 1983), known by the nickname ‘Garrincha’ … was a Brazilian football right winger and forward who helped the Brazil national team win the World Cups of 1958 and 1962. He played the majority of his professional career for Brazilian club Botafogo.” Wikipedia, “Goal by Garrincha:” Eduardo Galeano Reads from Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Part Three, YouTube
“A year ago this month, we took a look at ten of the finest films and television shows ever made on the subject of football. In some respects, finding truly excellent programming about the game is more difficult than it is to find absolute rot, but there are some rules that we can apply which help us find our way through the minefield of production companies that want us to watch their offerings. Looking down the list of the great films, you may note that almost all of them are documentaries, with only Jimmy McGovern’s “Hillsborough” and Jack Rosenthal’s “Another Sunday And Sweet FA” making the cut from the section of the archive marked “Fiction”.” twohundredpercent
“It was the only U.S. soccer team America ever truly loved. So how do you even begin to breathe life back into the New York Cosmos without it coming off as a cheap imitation? How do you go about restarting a professional sports franchise with such a loaded name from scratch, anyway?” ESPN
“Footballers are always going to be in the headlines. Late night drinking, kiss-and-tell stories and mega transfers create big news stories. We even have Kenny Dalglish (and most of his extended family) on Twitter. Traditional media has relied on the mutually beneficial relationship between on one side players, clubs and managers and on the other, local and national journalists to publicise (and criticise) in equal measure. The advent of Twitter and other social media platforms has provided novel and more direct channels of communication and interaction.” Tomkins Times
“John Keep takes a look at one of the finest goals in World Cup history. You can follow John on Twitter” Ghost Goal.
“Many of you will have heard the fans of AC Milan on the Curva Sud sing You’ll Never Walk Alone. It’s a more original take on the song than that of other fans who have faithfully echoed our rendition (e.g. at German, Dutch and Scottish grounds). The Milan fans have adapted the song and arranged their own version, turning it into a drum-fuelled, staccato chant. It’s uniquely Italian. Uniquely Milanese.” The Kop
“Before the winter break, the colossal number of draws was beginning to get me down. As we completed the front nine and headed for the turn, the defensive nature of the game had me thinking about the level of quality in the French game, how it may be time to reduce Ligue 1 to eighteen clubs in order to preserve a competitive edge; and looking forward to an easy life of reporting on yet another clutch of goalless draws as all twenty clubs attempted to do their damnedest not to win the title. So what d’you know – round 20 gave us just the one.” In Bed With Maradona
“Leeds were unable to reproduce their heroics of last weekend, as Arsenal progress to the fourth round. Simon Grayson made one change from the first game. Luciano Becchio was out injured, so Billy Paynter came in. Arsene Wenger made three changes from that 1-1 draw – Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny started, whilst Samir Nasri was used in place of Tomas Rosicky.” Zonal Marking
“Andorra versus England was always going to be one of those games that was destined to be a disaster. From the moment the two teams were drawn in teh same qualifying group, 99.9% of the population of the tiny principality (or is it a country?) sandwiched in the mountains between Spain and France, wanted nothing to do with the game, and couldn’t wait to see the game moved elsewhere. That other 0.1%, the Andorran FA only saw cash. Cash that the traveling English fans would bring to the country. Sod the fact their national stadium was in worse shape than Welling United’s (no disrespect Welling) but with a capacity of less than 2,000 it was never going to be played there.” The Ball Is Round
“It has been exactly one year since I traveled 44 hours to Angola to interview Didier Drogba, the Chelsea and Ivory Coast superstar, for a story in Sports Illustrated magazine leading up to last year’s World Cup. He couldn’t have been more accommodating, spending 90 minutes talking to me in his private bungalow on the heavily fortified Ivory Coast team base in Cabinda during the African Cup of Nations.” SI
“Neath 1-1 Llanelli – Welsh Premier League – 18th January 2011. Our Welsh wizard Mark Pitman visits The Gnoll for a local derby on a cold Tuesday night: The Manchester City of the Principality Welsh Premier League welcomed rivals Llanelli to The Gnoll for what would be the second of five successive home games for the noisy neighbours of the top-flights South Wales clubs. Recent signing Matthew Rees, who captained Port Talbot Town in the UEFA Europa League earlier this season, was handed his first start in the all-black colours of the Eagles, but it was the actions of the traditional man in black that would be the subject of controversy at the end of this much-anticipated derby match.” The Ball Is Round
“You may well have come across Rocco Cammisola’s football writing at ITV Sport, In Bed With Maradona or maybe on his blog The Football Express. Oh and Rocco is also a Twitter legend so follow him @RCammisola .. this is his account of the last ever goal in the European Cup Winners’ Cup” Ghost Goal
“By now everyone knows how this match panned out. Both sides made errors that were punished and West Brom claimed the 3 points. However, what went on from a formation point of view and how did that affect the match as the 90 minutes unfolded?” Tangerine Dreaming
“Playing Málaga just after seeing Real Madrid drop two platinum-precious points against Almería could have gone one of two ways for Barcelona. Pep’s Dream Boys could have choked and had their own Primera wobble. Or they could have humped the opportunity to pieces by mauling Málaga. Seeing as this team is strong like some kind of graceful ox-type creature, Barça did the latter. The title is now officially theirs to be lost.” FourFourTwo
Barca Half-Win La Liga As Real Slip…
“After nearly two months of inactivity, the slumbering, blubbery beast that is Spain’s title race momentarily showed signs of life on Sunday night with an effulgent fart and a boisterous burp before rolling over to whack the snooze button and go back to sleep, perhaps to the end of the season if Bar軋’s astonishing form continues.” Foolball 365
“In his introduction to the fiftieth anniversary edition of The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer engages in an uncharacteristically tender retrospective of the manner in which he originally wrote the book. Looking back at his twenty-four year-old self through the uncompromising mists of time, Mailer highlights the frailties that were present in his early writing and discusses both the strengths and weaknesses of what was his first major work.” Run of Play
“Another tight second city derby ended with a 1-1 draw after an entertaining game. Alex McLeish used a 4-4-1-1 system, giving a debut to David Bentley on the right of midfield. Liam Ridgewell moved into the centre of defence in place of Scott Dann, so David Murphy came in at left-back. Matt Derbyshire started upfront alone.” Zonal Marking
Tottenham 0-0 Manchester United: goalkeepers rarely tested
“A contest that never really took off. Harry Redknapp played the usual 4-4-1-1. Peter Crouch was preferred to Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko, whilst Wilson Palacios got the nod over Jermaine Jenas.” Zonal Marking
“After a couple of weeks off, we’re bringing back our weekly round-up of non-league videos. Yesterday saw the Third Round of the FA Trophy, and our first two matches come from that competition, kicking off with AFC Wimbledon’s match against Woking. Wimbledon dropped two points against Luton Town during the week and were looking to regain a little momentum. Woking may be a division below Wimbledon, but they have won the FA Trophy three times and took Brighton & Hove Albion to a penalty-shoot-out in the First Round of the FA Cup. The second match, meanwhile, is the match between Ashford Town (Middlesex) of the Zamaretto League Division One Central and Dartford of the Blue Square South, a match which saw one of the biggest crowds in recent years at Ashford’s Short Lane.” twohundredpercent
Ronaldinho
“On a Brazilian TV show on Saturday I was asked to explain the success of the English Premier League. The answer that instantly came into my mind was the mixture between the old and the new. Modern ideas – the money and the business practices – have been planted in fertile soil because the tradition of the game – its roots in the world’s first industrial society – is so strong.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Few people would know that there are actually two teams in Leyton, London E10. Or there was until Friday 14th January 2010. That day could be long etched on the history books for non league football as the day a nail was put in the coffin of Leyton FC.” The Ball Is Round
“After the Lecce corner, Zlatan first ran down a long ball against two defenders, then made a spectacular volley to put Milan up on the road over Lecce.” The Offside
Jan Brueghel the Elder, Harbor Scene with St. Paul’s Departure from Caesarea, 1596
“It was not an entirely happy homecoming for Kenny Dalglish on his first match at Anfield since becoming Liverpool manager for the second time but a draw in an entertaining 215th Merseyside derby represented some progress. The club’s legendary former player went into the game on the back of successive defeats to Manchester United and Blackpool but the result against their closest rivals at least ensured his first point.” ESPN
Dirk Kuyt spot on again as points shared between Liverpool and Everton
“The Kenny Dalglish effect has its limits. Liverpool’s returning hero inspired a vastly improved performance and atmosphere at Anfield this afternoon but not the cherished Merseyside derby victory that would announce his arrival as the script-writers on the Kop had wished. The wait for Dalglish’s first victory as Liverpool manager goes on, and so too David Moyes’s first win for Everton at Anfield since 1999.” Guardian
Match of the Week: Liverpool 2-2 Everton
“Whatever optimism may have been brought about amongst the red half of Liverpool by the appointment of Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool’s performance at Old Trafford last weekend, the fervour quietened just a little during the week at Bloomfield Road, when a performance as insipid as anything seen under Roy Hodgson saw them capitulate to Blackpool for the second time this season. Today, however, is the Merseyside derby – an altogether different kettle of fish and and opportunity to exorcise another of this season’s demons, a 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park that was accompanied by a performance as poor as anything that Liverpool supporters have seen in recent years.” twohundredpercent
Liverpool 2-2 Everton (Merseyside derby) – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL (Premier League)
The 90th Minute
“Below are Match Of The Day (MOTD) video highlights for all the EPL matches on January 16, 2011. The full MOTD episode can be viewed here.” The 90th Minute
“All the goals came in the second half as Dortmund took another step towards the Bundesliga title. Jupp Heynckes made multiple changes to his side in the first game back after the winter break. Eren Derdiyok, Tranquilo Barnetta and Arturo Vidal were all left out, whilst Sidney Sam and Gonzalo Castro both switched from the right flank to the left. Patrick Helmes played just off Stefan Kiessling.” Zonal Marking
“Prestatyn Town 1-1 Port Talbot Town – Welsh Premier League – 15th January 2011. Often associated with the seaside, Prestatyn Town welcomed the worst elements of the beach to Bastion Road for this Principality Welsh Premier League match against Port Talbot Town. A strong wind and sand covered playing surface did little to inspire any football purist in attendance and their concerns were proved correct as both sides struggled against the conditions in this scrappy yet surprisingly entertaining match.” The Ball Is Round
“Arsenal registered a thoroughly comfortable victory over West Ham amid rumours it was Avram Grant’s last game in charge. Arsenal returned to the front six that many consider their strongest, with Andrei Arshavin on the bench. Emmanuel Eboue continued to deputise for Bacary Sagna, whilst the centre-back pairing remained the same as in the midweek defeat to Ipswich.” Zonal Marking
“The 1930s was a decade which played host to several of the European game’s most historically significant stars, but on British shores few were held in higher regard than Everton’s William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean. One of the most prolific forwards to have ever graced the game, Dean was in many ways the player who defined the decade in English football.” The Equaliser
Grand Bleu
“It’s proving increasingly difficult not to like Villarreal. The team is in a distant third place behind Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga and therefore receives relatively little media coverage outside of Spain. But in a league that has been simply too predictable this season, Juan Carlos Garrido’s side continues to excite with its beautiful, attack-minded football.” ESPN
“As the build up to the 2010/11 Serie A season began it was very much a case of one self-obsessed, megalomaniac in, and one self-obsessed megalomaniac out. The landscape of Italian football was shaping up for a much quieter year following the departure of treble-winning Internazionale boss Jose Mourihno to Real Madrid, before the red-and-black half of Milan did the decent thing and convinced the brooding genius of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to come and tip Serie A’s normalcy quota firmly back towards the bonkers.” Just Football
“I’ve always attempted to see the bigger picture with Liverpool FC, and never liked short-term thinking. However, before we could focus on Fenway Sports Group’s long-term vision, we had a massive obstacle obscuring our view. If we were setting off on a long journey with our new American owners – accepting that it would take time to get where we wanted to go – then we were still entitled to scream Stop! when the driver they inherited was in danger of taking us off the road and over a cliff. (If that’s a little too dramatic, then perhaps it was simply a case of heading in the wrong direction, or down a cul-de-sac.)” Tomkins Times
Liverpool Match Review
“Blackpool beat a sluggish, negative and stagnant Liverpool at Anfield back in October and with the return of Kenny Dalglish to the Liverpool hot seat, this match could’ve got away from Blackpool as Fernando Torres scored an early opener. It was a credit to Blackpool as they never panicked or broke from their game plan to get back in to the match.” Tangerine Dreaming
The challenges Kenny Dalglish must overcome at Liverpool FC
“KENNY DALGLISH was keen to point out at his unveiling as Liverpool manager that the romance of his reappointment was no foundation for improving the club’s results. The unfortunate circumstances surrounding Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United had meant the result could be attributed to hard luck. However, Wednesday evening’s 2-1 loss at Blackpool illuminated the scale of the task ahead for the new reds boss.” Daily Post
“Rangers, Celtic, Rangers, Celtic. Is it time for serious structural reform in Scottish football? William Heaney takes us through the options.” Just Football
“The January transfer window has been a bit of a damp squib to date, with the exception of Manchester City’s big money purchase of prolific Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, but rumours of possible signings abound. Perhaps surprisingly, one club that has featured prominently in the feverish press speculation is Birmingham City, who have been linked with a series of attacking players in an attempt to resolve their goal scoring problems, including Kenny Miller and Robbie Keane, and have signed David Bentley on loan.” The Swiss Ramble
“This week’s episode of Friday Flashback Videos takes a trip back to 1969 to a match played between West Ham United and Manchester City on a slippery pitch at Upton Park. The match features some legendary English footballers such as Manchester City’s Francis Lee, Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell against West Ham United featuring Geoff Hurst, Harry Redknapp, Frank Lampard Sr., Trevor Brooking, Bobby Moore and others. As you’ll see from the above video, it was a highly entertaining match with some wonderful goals.” EPL Talk
“Of all the figures I’ve encountered in soccer over the years, Terry Byrne is right near the top of my most intriguing people list. A 44-year-old Englishman, Byrne has gone on a remarkable life journey from London taxi driver to massage therapist for Chelsea and England to David Beckham’s best friend and personal manager to a sports business career of his own.” SI
“On the surface, The Two Escobars is a mesmerizing documentary about the tragic intersection of soccer and the drug trade in Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s. But just below the surface, the film reveals a deeper, personal story about a Colombian society simultaneously enriched and shaken to its core. It re-introduces us to legendary soccer icons, reducing them to emotional figures bearing the unique burden of simply being Colombian and incredibly talented during the rise of narco-soccer (loosely defined as the period when soccer was inextricably tied to and funded by narco-trafficking).” Nutmeg Radio – 1, Nutmeg Radio – 2
“The manager and the year may have changed but Liverpool’s problems away from home continued as Kenny Dalglish’s first Premier League match since returning as boss ended in a 2-1 defeat at Blackpool. Liverpool’s troubles on the road contributed to the departure of Roy Hodgson last weekend but the Seasiders showed October’s win by the same score at Anfield was no fluke.” ESPN
Blackpool 2-1 Liverpool – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute
World Cup in 2022
“Qatar’s winning bid to hold the 2022 World Cup was marked by a spending spree that included investments in the home countries of several executives who were responsible for choosing the host nation, according to internal documents from the emirate’s bidding committee. The spending sheds light on how FIFA regulations—outlined in the two-page rules of conduct for World Cup host-nation bidding—left the door open for hopefuls to open wallets to exert indirect influence on international soccer’s small circle of decision-makers.” WSJ
“In Rio Flamengo fans came out in their thousands to give a euphoric welcome to new signing Ronaldinho. Some pundits have tried to pour water into their beer — such as former top class referee Jose Roberto Wright, who argued in the sports daily Lance! that Flamengo had done a bad deal.” SI – Tim Vickery
“Or rather, ‘Argentines in Spain and Portugal,’ with a few quick additions, since there wasn’t a lot to write home about elsewhere aside from Carlos Tevez’s goal in the FA Cup. Ben Shave and David Cartlidge, though, are here to keep us up to date with the weekend’s happenings. In the wake of his FIFA World Player Of The Year coronation, I’m also adding a video of Lionel Messi’s hat trick in the Copa Del Rey on Wednesday night. Enjoy.” Hasta El Gol Siempre
“Sometimes the slow death of a movement means that it is difficult to define when something is definitely gone, and some kind of crystallising moment is necessary, writes guest author Jamie Cutteridge. For example, the freshness of New Labour seemed to disappear somewhere around the beginning of this century, but the death of the movement was confirmed when Ed Miliband of the old left was elected leader last year.” twofootedtackle
Kenny Dalglish
“A step back or a step forward for the mighty reds? Kenny Dalglish is back at Liverpool and wears the Anfield suit far more easily than the ill-fitting Roy Hodgson. Liverpool is the pool of life. Welcome to IBWM Matt Savage.” In Bed With Maradona
Roy vs Rafa: Endgame.
“Following on from his comparisons between last season and this, Andrew Beasley looks at the final 20 league games of Rafa Benítez and Roy Hodgson. A lot was made of the fact that Liverpool weren’t very good in 2010 before the change took place, so this piece examines that belief.” Tomkins Times
Steve Clarke: A step in the right direction for Liverpool
“Liverpool’s recent woes have been all too well documented in the national press, the club’s nigh on disastrous form under the stewardship of Roy Hodgson this season having seen any realistic chance of silverware long since evaporate. However, with little to lose and a reputation to regain, recent developments at the club in terms of its managerial structure would appear – at least from the external perspective of a neutral – to be of a largely positive nature.” The Equaliser
“Edinson Cavani enjoyed the best night of his career as Napoli demolished Juventus. Walter Mazzarri played his most common line-up this season – 3-4-2-1, with Gianluca Grava ahead of Salvatore Aronica the only talking point. Gigi Delneri stuck to his favourite 4-4-2 shape, with Luca Toni making his debut alongside Amauri. There were six changes in all, with Milos Krasic coming back into the side on the right.” Zonal Marking
“The winter break in the Dutch football season is still in full effect. The downside of this is that for at least another week there are none of the usual match reports to bring here. But the advantage may be that such a period offers an opportunity to sit back and contemplate on the process of analyzing football matches.” 11 tegen 11
Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem – View of an Italian Port
“Pep’s Dream Boys – as officially endorsed by FIFA on Monday night, according to the local press – beat Deportivo using the most basic trick in the tactical book against the Galician outfit: staying awake for the whole ninety minutes when facing their terrifically tedious opponents.” FourFourTwo
Real Madrid 4-2 Villarreal: Real battered in first half, but press higher to dominate the second
“Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals and assisted another for Kaka, as Real came back from 1-0 and 2-1 down. Jose Mourinho used his usual 4-2-3-1 system. Sami Khedira was dropped with Lassana Diarra playing instead, whilst Kaka was again on the bench. Juan Carlos Garrido played Villarreal’s usual 4-4-2 / 4-2-2-2. Nilmar is still unavailable, so Marco Ruben started upfront. Marcos Senna and Carlos Marchena were also out – Jose Catala played at the back. Villarreal were excellent in the first half – by far the better side, and Jose Mourinho admitted after the match that the away side deserved to be leading at half-time.” Zonal Marking
“If the past is another country, then Liverpool Football Club appear keen to emigrate. At a stroke, they have been taken back to 1990 and their last league title, to 1988 and one of the finest footballing sides this country has even seen and to 1986, when a grinning player-manager scored the goal that won Division 1 to set up a historic double.” ESPN
FA Cup Third Round Weekend 3: Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool
“If there is one thing that the last few weeks of Roy Hodgson’s time in charge of Liverpool Football Club became notable for, it was the mass of contradiction that enveloped it. Hodgson was the wrong man for the job at the wrong time, but the hysteria that seemed to engulf the club as the team failed to find any consistency (they neither lost nor won more than two successive matches under his stewardship) ensured that rational discussion was, broadly speaking, the first casualty of the debate that ensued. By the time of Hodgson’s inevitable sacking (and let’s not start chasing down the the alley of that most misleading of football clichés, ‘by mutual consent’, here), it was reaching the level of something approaching collective psychosis amongst Liverpool supporters.” twohundredpercent
Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool – English FA Cup
The 90th Minute
“The season kicks off on my side of the Atlantic this weekend with one of the great hidden gems of the footballing calendar – the South American under-20 Championship.” BBC – Tim Vickery
“Sampdoria battled back from 1-0 down to claim the three points. Domenico di Carlo played a 4-4-2 system, but was forced to leave flu-ridden Giampaolo Pazzini on the bench, with Nicola Pozzi coming in. Daniele Mannini and Fernando Tissone were left out with Vladimir Koman and Andrea Poli starting instead.” Zonal Marking
“Internacional de Porto Alegre may have been party to a piece of unwanted history in December, when they became the first team from one of the ‘traditional’ powers of South America and Europe to fail to reach the final of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, but their fans were given something to celebrate, albeit as a small consolation prize, later in the month. On December 29, Inter’s Argentine playmaker, Andres D’Alessandro – formerly of Wolfsburg, Portsmouth and Real Zaragoza – was named the South American Footballer of the Year for 2010.” ESPN
“Nearly two years ago, the Daily Mail’s Matt Lawton published a piece under what should surely be considered one of the most dunderheaded headlines in recent football journalism: ‘The best players of the world (and Xavi): Ronaldo crowned king of football.’ In the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo’s ascension as the world player of the year in 2009, Lawton took the time to cheekily ridicule Xavi Hernández, a player whose patience, measure, and impeccable sense of the tempo in attack and defense has helped to make Barcelona the best club side in Europe (arguably) and Spain the best national side in the world (most certainly).” Run of Play
“So, Roy Hodgson has left Liverpool by mutual consent, and has been replaced by Kenny Dalglish for the remainder of the season. Hodgson leaves with a dignified statement, but his time at the club was disastrous (although the man who replaces him knows the true meaning of ‘disaster’).” Tomkins Times
“Here’s a thing about Roy Hodgson. An intelligent man, one of the few football types who knows which way up to hold a book, Hodgson’s favourite novelist is JP Donleavy. A grand choice, is that; the Irish-American is one of the 20th century’s greatest writers. But Roy’s pick from the Donleavy canon – defined by the bona fide 1955 classic The Ginger Man – is a throwaway 1979 effort called Schultz, a novel the author himself would struggle to recall. This is like saying your favourite Shakespeare play is Timon of Athens, or that your favourite Beatles song is PS I Love You. Or that the most dependable left-back in the world is Paul Konchesky.” Guardian
“An elegant Danubian centre-forward know to his contemporaries as ‘The Mozart of Football’, Matthias Sindelar was arguably the finest European player the 1930s produced. Born in Kozlov in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to a family of Moravian descent, Sindelar’s career began in Vienna in 1916 and continued upon a steep upward trajectory until his tragically premature death 1939.” The Equaliser
“Manchester United’s Tuesday night victory over Stoke City epitomized its season so far. The Red Devils managed just two shots on target, yet recorded a 2-1 victory. This season has rarely seen them hit top form, but they’ve still managed to consistently pick up results in the classic winning-without-playing-well formula — the mark of potential champions. Incredibly, they also remain the only unbeaten team after half of the season, with 12 wins and eight draws.” ESPN
“A penalty for either side – Arsenal’s coming in the final minute – meant these two sides will have to settle the tie at Elland Road next week. Arsene Wenger made sweeping changes to his side, keeping only Alex Song and Johan Djourou from the XI that failed to beat Manchester City. Nicklas Bendtner was used on the right, with Marouane Chamakh upfront.” Zonal Marking
Arsenal 1-1 Leeds United – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – FA Cup
The 90th Minute
“These are the top 10 storylines to keep an eye on in 2011 as Serie A resumes play…” SI
Leonardo
“New Inter boss Leonardo made a successful start as his side recorded a 3-1 victory over Napoli. Thiago Motta was the hero for the home side with the first and the last goal in a pulsating game. He put Inter ahead after three minutes, but Michele Pazienza deservedly levelled for an impressive Napoli in the 25th minute.” ESPN
Back to the future
“A good win. Inter defeated Napoli 3-1 to celebrate in the most appropriate way Leonardo’s first game in charge and the 2010 five trophies parade which preceded the kickoff. The Scudetto plate, the ‘Coppa Italia’ and the Champions League trophies [won under Mourinho] placed next to the Italian Supercup and the Fifa Club World Cup [won under Benitez].” ESPN
At the turn of the year, a shape-shifter in the Serie A
“Leonardo’s wacky and confident style of playing has clearly elicited warm and welcoming feelings from Inter’s locker room, despite his past as both a AC Milan star and coach, as the nerazzurri moved to beat the widely accredited team of Napoli with a score of 3-1. The top of the chart is still a telescope-distance away, and many stumbling blocks no doubt await the Milanese squad in the backwaters where they currently stand; but, with two more matches to play, the return to form of Inter will accelerate the process of restructuring for the whole season.” The 90th Minute
“The transition from a player to a coach is not always easy and can take time, some will make it and some will not, they say a successful player doesn’t always make a great coach, but there is an exception to the rule and a prime example being Johan Cruijff.” La Croqueta
“Along with Robert Prosinečki, Siniŝa Mihajlović and Dejan Savićević, Dragan Stojković was an integral member of that immensely gifted generation of Yugoslavian footballers which graced the European game during the late eighties and early nineties. A key part of the dominant Red Star Belgrade side of the same period, Stojković is now carving out a successful coaching career on the other side of the world.” The Equaliser
“Scottish football needs to change & IBWM’s latest debutant feels the recent Old Firm derby was symptomatic of exactly that. Welcome Graeme Crawford” In Bed With Maradona
“As I wrote before for Russian-speaking supporters, I had been very sceptical to Roy Hodgson since I heard he would be appointed as a manager of Liverpool FC for the first time. It seemed really obvious for me he wasn’t good enough to be a manager for the club like ours, and his experience meant nothing because he was a flop with two big names he tried to manage.” AnfieldRoad
Henry silence only adds to Hodgson’s agony and state of crisis at Anfield
“The graffiti scrawled on a Melwood wall yesterday stated ‘Hodgson Out’ but the Liverpool manager was in at an early hour and still at his desk late into the afternoon, even though it was a designated day off for most of the players whose capitulation at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night left his job in such jeopardy.” Independent
“Arsenal had all the best moments but failed to get the breakthrough. Arsene Wenger played the same side as in the recent 3-0 victory over Chelsea, which meant no place for Marouane Chamakh or Andrei Arshavin. Roberto Mancini made five changes, including three of his back four. He also left out Adam Johnson, instead playing Jo on the left. Arsenal started the match at a very high tempo when in possession, and should have gone ahead in the first couple of minutes when Jack Wilshere’s cross-shot wasn’t reached by Robin van Persie.” Zonal Marking
Once a Gunner, always a Hammer?
“If Trevor Brooking wouldn’t have fallen over in the penalty area at 3.13pm on Saturday 10th May 1980 life would have been so different for me. The moment a child chooses their football team to follow is a monumental decision, the first right of passage into adulthood. After being taken to Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Leyton Orient and Arsenal I had to choose which route I would take. Coming from a family of Charlton Athletic and West Ham United fans I obviously chose Arsenal.” The Ball Is Round
Arsenal 0-0 Manchester City – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – EPL
The 90th Minute
Scissors Kick 