
“South America is a haven for football scouts from all across Europe and further afield. Cast your gaze across European football’s landscape and most clubs posses a South American playing a prominent role in their team. Barcelona and Lionel Messi, Manchester City and Sergio Agüero, Napoli and Edison Cavani AC Milan and Thiago Silva to name but a few. And one South American nation, more than most, are making extra room for scouts as interest in their players increase. But it is not the traditional giants of Brazil and Argentina or even Uruguay who have achieved so much with such a sparse population. It is Chile. The land of Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamarano, the Andes and Atacama, Colo Colo and Universidad de Chile.” In Bed With Maradona
Daily Archives: July 12, 2012
A Tactical And Statistical Look At The Ball Playing Centre-Back
“Defensive tactics have changed drastically over recent years. In the 1970s the sweeper was a key feature in a lot of top European sides. Franz Beckenbauer was the archetypal sweeper, great technique and vision as well as a wonderful range of a passing. The sweeper would not only literally ‘sweep’ things up sitting behind the other defenders, but would also look to create from deep. With a movement to the modern day version of the off-side rule in the early 90s the role of the sweeper became redundant, the almost deep-lying play maker had no purpose now as teams opted to push defenders up the pitch in order to play rival forwards offside.” Think Football (Video)
Northern Soul, Scottish Steel
“Football is a folk game in the truest sense of the word; it is of the people, by the people and for the people. Therein resides its power and longevity. The Victorians lay claim to codifying and defining the sport but the game itself has existed in some form or another all over the world for centuries. The Romans and ancient Greeks played a ball game with their feet, as did the Chinese; indeed the practice of Cujo (literally kick-ball) dates back to 1BC. There are variations in most cultures that are region-specific and as different from each other as football is to rugby. There seems to be something enduring and fascinating across the world about these team ball-games played with the feet. However, the game in England evolved from games that involved neighbouring towns and villages attempting to move a ball to a specific geographical location, the balls were usually carried and involved an unlimited amount of participants and resembled localised riots rather than a hobby or pastime.” Tomkins Times
Top Soccer Books to Read This Summer
“Now that Euro 2012 has ended there is a lack of games to hold fans interest until most domestic seasons begin in August. During this downtime I personally dig into some books, because a person can only read so many transfer rumors. The following lists my favorite soccer related books to read. I would love to hear other suggestions, as I have a limited library to base my choices on. So turn off he replay on Fox Soccer of Wigan vs. Stoke and pick up one of these to get your soccer fill until your team begins playing meaningful matches again.” Bleacher Report
The Tournament that Freedom Forgot
“Back in the late 1980’s Europe’s political landscape was changing. The Eastern Bloc was crumbling. Football was one language whereby different political ideals could be set aside for 90 minutes. That was unless you lived in the divided Germany at the time. It is hard to imagine today when we look at Germany that it was still a country partitioned by a wall into the haves and the have-nots. No place on earth saw this divide more than Berlin where the wall completely cut off a section of the city, known as West Berlin, which was a West German isle surrounded by a sea of the Eastern Bloc, a capitalist island in a sea of communism. Football was being suffocated by the political situation.” In Bed With Maradona
