1937 map showing the areas held by Republicans in white and Nationalist areas in grey
“In 1937, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, Republican areas of Spain formed la Liga del Mediterraneo (the Mediterranean League) and la Copa de le Espana Libre (the Free Spain Cup) as the national league was suspended. These competitions mark a period many in Spain would like to forget, but one club wants them officially recognised. The competitions are just as important because of the teams that were omitted as they are for those that took part. Held in the Republican strongholds of Valencia and Barcelona, the most notable omissions were Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.” In Bed With Maradona
All Elbows and Ugly
March 30, 2012“Because he looks ridiculous, is a streaky player, has pixie cheekbones despite being 6-foot-7, reads as ‘posh’ and ‘soft’ in a sport that complicatedly worships killers with no nerves in their knuckles, has a sense of humor, is married to a woman who is noticeably hotter than he is, and tends to be photographed in the process of transforming himself into comedic aerial hieroglyphs — e.g., this, and this and this — Peter Crouch gets a bad rap. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that Peter Crouch is not often judged with the benefit of nuance.” Grantland (Video)
The downward spiral
March 30, 2012“Late March, and if you listen carefully you can – in the parlance of a certain puce-cheeked knight of the realm – hear the sound of bums starting to squeak. So, time to cast an eye over the teams who this May are most likely to be swapping the preening pros, plastic fans and prawn sandwiches of the Premier League for the Bovril, goal celebration music and cheerleaders of the Championship. In descending order…” thetwounfortunates
Liverpool: Kenny Needs To Copy Newcastle’s Transfer Strategy
March 30, 2012“After transforming his side’s fortunes last season and investing significantly over the summer, expectations were high for Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool heading in to this season. Unfortunately, the season has not played out as the Anfield faithful had hoped it would. The Reds have been something of a Jekyll and Hyde side: still unbeaten in cup competitions and well on course for a domestic cup double, but infuriatingly inconsistent in the Premier League and far from where many had expected them to be. They slumped to their fifth defeat in their last six league games – an uninspiring, lethargic 2-1 loss at home to relegation battling Wigan – and fans are beginning to turn on the very man that has long been revered as royalty at Anfield.” Sabotage Times
Bayern take big step towards semi-finals
March 29, 2012“Marseille’s decision to field third-choice goalkeeper Elinton Andrade backfired as his mistake gifted Bayern Munich the opening goal in their Champions League quarter-final. The 32-year-old, preferred to number two Gennaro Bracigliano with first choice Steve Mandanda suspended, allowed Mario Gomez’s shot to squirm under his body in the 44th minute of the first leg at the Stade Velodrome.” ESPN
Kalou secures vital away win for Blues
“Chelsea may not be as good as they used to be but even a makeshift line-up was strong enough to put them in touching distance of the Champions League semi-finals. There was as little to fear from Benfica as Didier Drogba allegedly indicated, the side that helped eliminate Manchester United producing arguably one of the most toothless performances ever witnessed in a quarter-final home leg.” ESPN
Benzema brace puts Real on brink of semis
“Substitute Kaka sparkled and Karim Benzema scored twice as Real Madrid finally broke down Cypriot underdogs APOEL in Nicosia. The Brazil international was introduced in the 63rd minute and set up Benzema for a 74th-minute opener before tucking away fellow sub Marcelo’s excellent cutback eight minutes later.” ESPN
Nándor Hidegkuti
March 29, 2012“Harry Johnston was an outstanding defender who played nearly twenty years for Blackpool, mostly as a center-back. He was so good that in 1951 the FA named him footballer of the year. He played for his country as well, making his last appearance in 1953, at Wembley, against the upstart Magyars from Hungary, but that would not be a good day for Harry. The problem was Nándor Hidegkuti.” Run of Play
European Championship Stories: 1996 – A Whole New Ball Game
March 29, 2012“It almost goes without saying that the near-death – and very much beyond – experiences suffered by English football during the 1980s shaped the game that we watch today. There was a time – a period from the middle to the end of that decade – when the definite feeling that this was a game on its last legs became tangible. Crowds dwindled to somewhere beyond what might have been considered the bare bones, whilst an unhappy trinity of disasters carried both a literal and symbolic loss, with deaths that represented scores of personal tragedies alongside a wider sense of corrosion in what had been the nations number one pastime.” twohundredpercent
Ivan Jovanovic’s devotion to detail takes Apoel into unknown territory
March 27, 2012
“The path of Ivan Jovanovic’s career was determined by a fighton a dusty field in a low-key competition in East Germany in 1988. He wasn’t even on the pitch, having been substituted 10 minutes from time of an Intertoto Cup tie (in the days when it consisted of eight groups of four, with no knockout stage and no winner) between his side, Rad Belgrade, and Carl Zeiss Jena. He played no part in the brawl but when Uefa handed out punishments his role as captain was taken into account and he was banned from European competition for two years.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
For better or worse? How Havelange’s global vision changed football
March 27, 2012“Laid low by an infection, former Fifa president Joao Havelange is gravely ill in a Rio hospital, where no doubt he is profoundly irritated at being forced to interrupt his daily routine of swimming 1,000 metres. At the age of 95, Havelange remains a force of nature. Over 30 years ago he used his strength to change world football.” BBC – Tim Vickery
This is Türkiyemspor Berlin
March 27, 2012“Izmirspor was founded by a group of Turkish immigrants in 1978, and by the time the club changed its name to Türkiyemspor in 1987, the club had risen meteorically to the Landesliga, then the fourth tier of German football. Attendances for the level were remarkable, with around 1,000 fans present for most games, and an incredible 11,949 (or even more – plenty of fans without tickets found their way into the stadium) for the big derby with Hertha BSC, as the Old Lady’s slump to the Oberliga (then 3rd division) coincided with yet another promotion for Türkiyem.” In Bed With Maradona
Point By Point – Liverpool FC Health Check
March 27, 2012
“After my last piece (access here), this is a slightly simplified – but not simplistic – breakdown of what’s working, and what’s going wrong. As in-depth as that previous piece was, I got the predictable angry emails saying that I’d purposely missed this and overlooked that. I’ll start with an old chestnut that some see as an excuse, but others see as circumstance.” Tomkins Times
Failure to Cohere
March 27, 2012“Around 11 p.m. last Monday, Caleb Porter was wearing a pained, tight expression, like a man who’d elaborately prepared an orange for eating – peeled it, scraped its white resins off the delicate inner skin, sectioned it; perhaps opened a beverage suitable for the side; sat himself somewhere comfortable, with entertainment, orange and beverage at hand – only to find that the orange was not an orange all along, but was instead an artistic evocation of one’s career hopes vanishing forever, and so every choice thereby proved wrong in that moment. No orange, but an orange-suitable entertainment. And orange-suitable beverage! But no orange. His expression pained and tight. In short, a man in crisis.” Run of Play
Cologne 1-6 Borussia Dortmund
March 27, 2012“Borussia Dortmund capped a memorable week by hammering Cologne 6-1 to restore their five-point cushion over Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table. Coming on the back of reaching the German Cup final after defeating Greuther Fürth on Tuesday, Jürgen Klopp’s side were simply too good for Ståle Solbakken’s relegation battlers, who end the weekend just one point above the drop-zone. This result is also the joint-worst in Cologne’s history of home games: the other side to have ever beaten them 6-1 in the cathedral city? Borussia Dortmund, this time in 1994.” Defensive Midfielder
Liverpool’s Recent Decline: Time For A Clean Sweep?
March 27, 2012“What is now starting to become a familiar hush fell over Anfield on Saturday afternoon as Liverpool huffed and puffed their way to another home defeat, this time at the hands of Wigan Athletic. Whilst this result didn’t necessarily qualify as the shock of the season, it was another sign that a club that has been in the headlines more than most since last August is continuing to derail, with only the inconsistency of those below them in the table keeping them in seventh place in the table. Moreover, some – perhaps many – of the clubs supporters are now having to do what they may previously have considered the unthinkable: question Kenny Dalglish.” twohundredpercent
Sone Aluko inspires Rangers to victory over nine-man Celtic
March 25, 2012
“There will surely never be another Old Firm occasion as curious as this. Five goals and three sendings-off almost seemed like minor details. Celtic crossed Glasgow looking to take the victory which would confirm their status as the champions of Scotland. By full-time, the Rangers support celebrated as if they had secured the league flag and the visiting contingent bounced around while pointing out the wider reality. In this city, one-upmanship takes on an altogether new meaning. Supporters of the two city rivals simply love any opportunity to hurl abuse at each other, and most certainly to gloat.” Guardian
The Joy of Six: the Old Firm
“Six classic Glasgow derbies, including a title decider, two cup finals, 31 goals, a riot – and four players being charged by the police” Guardian
Green shoots of recovery for Scotland?
“Spanish-born Jack Harper, a midfield star in Real Madrid’s illustrious academy, and Chelsea Under-18 forward Islam Feruz, are two players at the forefront of a new wave of gifted Scottish youngsters that also includes West Bromwich Albion’s Scott Allan, Falkirk’s Craig Sibbald and Celtic’s James Keatings.” World Soccer
Roma from the beginning
March 25, 2012“As any Roma fan should know, three clubs were merged together in the summer of 1927 to form the club now known as AS Roma. What may be less well known is that the merger was initiated by a member of the Fascist party, who had taken power five years previously, and that Lazio were the only side to oppose the move and remain an independent club.” World Soccer
The hate-filled Derby of Italy
March 25, 2012
“Recent weeks and months have seen a real deterioration in the previously cordial relationship between this season’s leading protagonists in Serie A: Milan and Juventus. The two most successful clubs on the peninsula have descended into a petty back-and-forth squabble that leaves neither looking particularly dignified and both in danger of turning what should be a truly engaging title race into an Italian version of the Spanish clasico, the histrionics of which spoil what is undoubtedly one of the world football’s most prestigious encounters.” ESPN
Chopping and Changing at Blackpool
March 25, 2012“Ian Holloway’s introduction of three substitutes in the 64th minute of yesterday’s 3-1 defeat at Reading seemed like a strange tribute to Barry Fry, master of the ‘threeplacement’ in his heyday at Birmingham City. That said, it’s also a sign of one of Blackpool’s major problems this season; a campaign that has, nonetheless, been punctuated with lots of good things.” thetwounfortunates
Luis Suarez: 9 or 10?
March 23, 2012
“This season, Liverpool have not won enough games because they have not scored enough goals. What started out as “one of those days” (Stoke away, 24 shots, 3 clear chances, 0 points), became a blip (Norwich home, 29 shots, 2 clear chances, 1 point), became a season-long malaise. By the time we played Blackburn at Anfield (27 shots, 5 clear chances, 1 point), there was little more than a resigned shrug from Liverpool fans.” Tomkins Times
Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea: Mancini gets one substitution wrong, then two right
March 23, 2012“Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko helped turn a 0-1 into a 2-1. Manchester City were without Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott, so Micah Richards moved into the middle. Mario Balotelli continues to start ahead of Edin Dzeko in big games, while James Milner was left out with Samir Nasri preferred. Roberto Di Matteo played Fernando Torres upfront, Ramires on the right and John Obi Mikel in the holding role. John Terry was out.” Zonal Marking
Arsenal to Consolidate Third?
March 23, 2012“Robin van Persie has almost singlehandedly kept the team afloat until now, with 26 league goals and 5 in the Champions League. But now he’s got real help, as in a real team behind him. In the event of a top-four finish, perhaps his future may yet lay in the red half of North London.” Cult Football
Newcastle United – Life In A Northern Town
March 21, 2012
Cheick Titoe
“What a difference a few months can make, especially at a football club. Newcastle United fans endured a turbulent pre-season, as they saw the heart and soul of their team leaving for pastures new with Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton making their way to London and José Enrique joining his former colleague Andy Carroll at Liverpool.” Swiss Ramble
The Birth of AS Roma
March 21, 2012“As any Roma fan should know, three clubs were merged together in the summer of 1927 to form the club now known as AS Roma. What may be less well known is that the merger was initiated by a member of the Fascist party, who had taken power five years previously, and that Lazio were the only side to oppose the move and remain an independent club. The driving force behind the merger? To create a new, Roman club that would unite Rome’s numerous clubs and provide a strong southern opponent to the dominant northern clubs.” In Bed With Maradoma
Arshavin looking ‘better and better’ as Zenit close in on Russian title
March 21, 2012“Anybody who thought the two draws with which Zenit St Petersburg began the third – and final – part of this marathon Russian season might signal a dip in form, opening the possibility of a realistic title challenge, was rapidly disabused on Friday. Dynamo Moscow were third in the table and had lost only twice in 17 home games this season; they seemed a genuine threat. If they could even have held Zenit to a draw, CSKA could have closed to within four points with a win in the Moscow derby against Spartak. CSKA fulfilled their part, winning 2-1, but Zenit were imperious, winning 5-1, keeping the gap at six points and, by the manner in which they did so, emphasising just how far they are ahead of every other team in Russia.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Swansea make themselves at home at the Cottage
March 21, 2012
“On another amazing weekend for Welsh sport our resident Swansea City fan, Abi Davies made her way back from London with a smile as wide as Swansea Bay after an excellent win at Fulham.” The Ball Is Round
Torres finally overcoming his Chelsea demons?
March 21, 2012“Hallelujah! It has happened. At long last, after five bitterly barren months, Fernando Torres has scored for Chelsea; I was privileged to be at Stamford Bridge to see it. And scored not only once against haphazard Leicester, but twice. And not only scored twice but showed he could set up goals for others.” World Soccer
Panathinaikos 0-1 Olympiakos: match abandoned with Olympiakos on top
March 21, 2012“Olympiakos are closer to the league title after this game was abandoned because of crowd trouble ten minutes from full-time. Panathinaikos coach Jesualdo Ferreira played Konstantinos Katsouranis as his highest midfielder, with Cedic Kante and Josu Sarriegi the centre-back pairing – the first time they’d started together all season.” Zonal Marking (YouTube)
Going South? Celtic & The English League System
March 19, 2012
“It is one of the most commonly recurring stories of modern football. Should Celtic and Rangers be allowed to leave the Scottish league system and join the English football league system instead? It’s an emotive subject, for sure, and it’s one that seems to divide both supporters and administrators, with the only people that are certain of which way they would like to go being those that run Glasgow’s two giant clubs, who would like to utilise the vaster resources that would be open to them as a result of being in the more lucrative English system than they would get from remaining in England.” twohundredpercent
Brazil’s championship needs a licence to thrill
March 19, 2012“Before Ian Fleming made his name writing the James Bond books, he was eclipsed by older brother Peter, a derring-do adventurer of the type Michael Palin might have been born to satirise. Peter Fleming was part of an eccentric expedition into the Brazilian jungle in the early 1930s, which he wrote about in a book best remembered for its stand out line. ‘Sao Paulo,’ he mused, ‘is like Reading, only much further away’ – an observation which does, of course, depend on one’s starting point, but which contains an excellent piece of insight.” BBC – Tim Vickery
Quantifying Progress, From Roy To Kenny
March 19, 2012“After a series of poor league results, including three defeats in a row for the first time in nearly a decade, stern questions were being asked of Kenny and his team’s management of Liverpool, probably for the first time; were the most suitable players purchased in the summer, have the tactics been right, and so on.” TomkinsTimes
Any Given Saturday
March 19, 2012“INT. DRESSING ROOM – EVE. We are somewhere in the bowels of a large football stadium. Several staff and 23 players – three lions on all their shirts – sit around looking nervy, or nervously applying ‘product’ to hair (hair shaped like one of those asymmetrical postmodernist sculptures named after abstract nouns – Courage, Trust, Camaraderie – and habitually found outside civic buildings, which, within a generation, have become discoloured, unloved, and appropriated by skateboarders).” Run of Play
Liverpool: NextGen Stars Ready To Step Up Thanks To Rafa’s Revolution
March 19, 2012
“In last week’s derby Liverpool had four homegrown players, here’s five more who are ready for the first team, thanks in no small part to Rafael Benitez’s work on the academy set-up…” Sabotage Times
Fenerbahce 2-2 Galatasaray: Fenerbahce score two great goals, then go too defensive
March 19, 2012“Galatasaray are close to the title after an impressive comeback in the Kıtalar Arası Derbi. Fenerbahce coach Aykut Kocaman has named an XI similar to this all season – ten of the positions featured his most-used individual in that role. The exception was Moussa Sow, who only arrived from Lille in January, but has been a regular upfront since. Miroslav Stoch has shared the left-wing position with Caner Erkin, while Serdar Kesimal competes with Fabio Bilica and Bekir Irtegun for a place at centre-back, but this was a typical Fenerbahce XI.” Zonal Marking
Stoke undone by dynamic duo
March 19, 2012“Kenny Dalglish’s innate, instinctive reaction is to defend his charges, whatever the accusations levelled against them. He can appear especially touchy when the players in question are his signings. But even those accustomed to a defiant Dalglish forming a protective shield in front of an under-fire footballer were taken aback by the Scot’s January justification of Stewart Downing’s recruitment when he said: ‘He is better than what I thought he was.'” ESPN
The Reducer, Week 28: Manchester City Gets the Shakes
March 15, 2012“You know it’s not exactly a scrapbook-worthy weekend of football when managers are reduced to bemoaning what they deserved or how they were the better team or how they ‘bossed it’ (I see you, Martin Jol) following a loss or a draw. Coming at the end of a week where there was plenty of talk about England’s place in European football’s pecking order — what with Arsenal going out of the Champions League and both Manchester sides losing in the Europa League — the weekend’s action did little to quell murmurs that the Premier League is no longer the premier league.” Grantland (YouTube)
Where do Premier League sides attack from?
March 15, 2012
Southampton, UK
“In an individual match, it’s easy to see that a side have a bias towards one particular flank. In Monday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle, Arsenal constantly attacked down the right, with Theo Walcott staying wide on that flank, and Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain moving inside from the left. That was surprising when you looked at the opposition, because Newcastle were likely to be more secure down their left (where Jonas Gutierrez protects his full-back well) than down the right, where the ill-disciplined Hatem Ben Arfa was reluctantly fielded. But the bias towards the right, while exaggerated in that game, is actually typical of Arsenal this season, and in the last couple of years.” Zonal Marking
On Distant Fandom
March 15, 2012“On April 2, 2011, India won its second Cricket World Cup. But unlike most other cricket fans, I didn’t watch the final in its entirety. For a ninety-minute stretch, I was watching Manchester United produce a typically wondrous comeback against West Ham United. It was a significant win without which any joy at India’s triumph would have been unmistakably sullied. Even though I was born and raised in India my attachment to a soccer club — one that I’ve never seen play in the flesh — was stronger. When, a few weeks later, on May 14, Manchester United clinched its 19th league title and surpassed Liverpool’s long-held record, I felt transcendent joy.” Run of Play
Chelsea 4-1 Napoli: Napoli unable to defend crosses
March 15, 2012“Chelsea produced an impressive display to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals. Roberto Di Matteo chose a rough 4-2-3-1 system, with Daniel Sturridge wide on the right, and Ramires tucked in on the left. Walter Mazzarri named his expected side – Juan Zuniga in ahead of Andrea Dossena was the only small debate in his selection. Zuniga got the nod, but then had to move to the right once Christian Maggio picked up an injury, and Dossena came on down the left. This was an entertaining game with either side being ‘ahead’ in the tie at two separate points – Chelsea came out on top, though it wasn’t a particularly enthralling tactical battle.” Zonal Marking
Bayern 7-0 Basel: Basel’s brave strategy vaguely logical, but their application of it disastrous
March 15, 2012“Bayern stormed into the quarter-final after a comfortable victory. Jupp Heynckes decided Bastian Schweinsteiger wasn’t fit enough to start – he was on the bench. Luiz Gustavo played in the middle with Toni Kroos ahead, Philipp Lahm switched to right-back, with David Alaba on the left. Heiko Vogel made one change from the first leg, bringing in Cabral for Benjamin Huggel, so Basel were back to the XI that beat Manchester United last year. Basel started off pressing high in the first five minutes, but then retreated into a deep shape with two banks of four behind the ball.” Zonal Marking
The Question: Why is balance more important than symmetry in lineups?
March 13, 2012
“Humanity seems to have a built-in regard for symmetry. It was what William Blake admired in the tiger and it explains, various surveys have claimed, why certain faces are considered more attractive than others (Denzel Washington and Cate Blanchett, apparently, have the most symmetrical faces in Hollywood). The instinct with football teams and formations has always been to set them out symmetrically – a 4-3-3 with the shuttling players neatly flanking the anchor and the wingers placed precisely on their touchlines, or a blockish 4-4-2 that becomes two lines with a line half the length set centrally atop them.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
Five areas of interest in Everton 1-0 Tottenham
March 13, 2012“This was another interesting clash between David Moyes and Harry Redknapp. Their tactical battle at White Hart Lane last season was fascinating, and this game followed a similar pattern of Moyes responding to Redknapp’s decisions. I’ve written about the difference between the two over at the Guardian, using the battle between Gareth Bale and Seamus Coleman to sum up the two managers’ styles.” Zonal Marking
Tactics: Zambia combine spirit with organisation
March 11, 2012“Oscar Tabarez and Herve Renard may not obviously have a lot in common. With his sober ties and thoughtful limp, the 65-year-old former schoolteacher Tabarez looks like he should be the precinct chief in a seventies detective series, while the flamboyant, 43-year-old Renard’s long hair and unbuttoned shirts make him look like the passionate lead in a 19th-century romance. And yet, in the past year, both have taken unfancied sides to continental tournament triumphs, and both have done so with similar methods.” World Soccer – Jonathan Wilson (YouTube)
European Championship Stories: 1988 – Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold
March 11, 2012“There can be few things more tiresome in international football than war analogies. Sometimes, however, they are inescapable and this can be no more true than in the case of European nations which once pitched up against each other on battlefields, only to find themselves facing off against their former allies or rivals for decades afterwards. In the case of the Dutch national team, the complex nature of its relationship with its neighbour – and former occupier – Germany has come to manifest itself through an occasional series of gladiatorial matches between the two national sides.” twohundredpercent
Inter’s Treble Was the End, Not the Beginning
March 11, 2012“Beleaguered Inter Milan dragged themselves back from another near disastrous defeat at home on Sunday. Diego Milito this time was charged with pulling the game level against Catania. They had been two goals down but the comeback tasted as bitter as a defeat due to the performance once again screaming of inadequacy.” In Bed With Maradona
Football – the last bastion of Social Democracy?
March 11, 2012
Hubert Robert – Architectural Composition with the Pantheon
“I know what you’re already thinking. That I’m going to argue something entirely inarguable. That in between skimming the dressing room copies of Nuts and Zoo the average Premier League footballer is more likely to clutch a well thumbed copy of Ayn Rand’s hymn to self interest, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ than the collected writings of Tony Crosland. And you’d be right of course. Modern football is awash with greed – with car swerving prima-donna Ashley Cole its own John Galt – a rifle toting poster boy for the ‘we’ll do what we like’ generation.” thetwounfortunates
Liverpool luckless at Black Cats
March 11, 2012“Nicklas Bendtner’s second goal in a week secured a 1-0 victory for Sunderland over Liverpool as Jose Reina endured another miserable afternoon on Wearside. The Denmark international pounced from close range with 56 minutes gone to fire the home side ahead after strike-partner Fraizer Campbell’s shot had twice hit the woodwork with the Spaniard unable to do anything about it.” ESPN
Manchester United 2-3 Athletic Bilbao: United unable to deal with pressing and high tempo
March 11, 2012“Athletic produced an extremely impressive performance, and take a decent lead back to Bilbao. Sir Alex Ferguson left out the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and Danny Welbeck, and went with Javier Hernandez upfront, and a combination of Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans at the back.” Zonal Marking
APOEL v Lyon a good example of when the away goals rule creates a defensive game
March 11, 2012“Despite the ultimately exciting method of victory, and the novelty of having a Cypriot club in the final eight of the European Cup, the APOEL v Lyon game was actually a dull spectacle. This was true in both technical and tactical terms. Technically, the sides finished with fairly low pass completion rates (71% and 74%), and tactically neither changed much throughout the game. Even when it did look as if the coaches might shake things up, when APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic switched from two strikers to one striker, and Lyon boss Remi Garde did the opposite at the same time, the sides continued to play in much the same manner.” Zonal Marking