Daily Archives: September 4, 2012

Africa Cup of Nations qualifying is a rushed mess – but fascinating

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“The qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations reach their climax this weekend. For 16 teams, the qualifiers also start this weekend. There surely can never have been a hastier, more flawed qualifying process for any tournament that presents itself as major. The result is that Ivory Coast and Senegal will pay each other on Saturday and then again on 12 October and, whoever wins over the two legs goes through. Whoever loses is out. Neither side has played any qualifiers before now. Both qualified for the Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon earlier this year, beginning the tournament as first and third favourites. They’ve done nothing wrong; just been unlucky with the draw.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Inter 1-3 Roma: Zeman collects the first win of his second spell at Roma

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“An extremely open game finished with Roma on top. Andrea Stramaccioni surprisingly used new signing Alvaro Pereira on the left of his central midfield three in place of Esteban Cambiasso – otherwise, the XI was the same as in the 3-0 win over Pescara last week. Zdenek Zeman gave debuts to Panagiotis Tachtsidis, Alessandro Florenzi and Mattia Destro within his standard attack-minded 4-3-3 system. As with all games involving a Zeman side, this was very open with space all over the pitch, despite both sides trying to play with a high defensive line.” Zonal Marking

Brian Glanville reflects on a weekend of Premier League action

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“Arsenal suddenly firing goals not blanks. Chelsea utterly humiliated in Monaco, ridiculed by a splendid Colombian striker named Falcao – after the once-famed Brazilian midfielder – who now seems eager to join them. Spurs failing yet again to win a Premiership match despite the expensive late arrival from Fulham of the talented Moussa Dembele and the usually prolific Clint Dempsey. Villas-Boas was booed by Tottenham fans after the uneasy draw with a Norwich team, which on its previous visit to London had been thrashed 5-0 at Fulham. Watching Fulham crash at West Ham, one wondered how they had ever got all those goals.” World Soccer

That Watford and Udinese Thing: Reasons To Be Cheerful

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“In the summer of 1986 Udinese were in trouble. As punishment for their part in ‘Totonero bis’ – a match-fixing scandal which tore through the game and left many of its players and clubs tainted forever – the Friulian club were relegated to the second tier of Italian football. While his arrival may not have had the global impact of Silvio Berlusconi’s landing at Milan some four months earlier, Giampaolo Pozzo’s arrival would prove to be a watershed moment for a club who bear little resemblance to the one he bought 26 years ago.” In Bed With Maradona

A Tactical Look at Southampton-Man United and Liverpool-Arsenal

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“The two big games on Sunday provided us with some further insight into how the respective teams will approach this season. Here are some tactical points that proved to be key in determining the results, and some things that may be worth keeping an eye on for the upcoming campaign…” EPL Talk

La Liga Review: FC Barcelona 1, Valencia 0, Or, How To Be Happy With Less

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“Barça are now the only Liga team to have started this season with three wins out of three, and will spend the international break at the top of the table, at the lofty height of nine points. The match against Valencia promised to be complicated, with them having taken a worthy 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu, and Barça still recovering from the mid-week disappointment, so Tito chose Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Adriano, Song, Xavi, Cesc, Pedro, Alexis and Messi before trudging off to the stands to sit out the first of the two matches he’s suspended.” The Offside (Video)

Barcelona 1 – 0 Valencia
“Barcelona retained the only 100 per cent record in Spain’s Primera Division with a fine strike by Adriano sinking struggling Valencia 1-0. Barca, beaten by rivals Real Madrid in the Supercopa, could have beaten Manuel Pellegrino’s side by more goals had Cesc Fabregas not failed to take two good chances. Tito Vilanova almost saw his side pay for those missed chances as Roberto Soldado and Victor Ruiz both went close, the latter also having a goal disallowed for offside.” ESPN

Liverpool owner John W Henry offers some laughable points with his letter to fans

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“If Lennon’s hymn of homage was to Mia Farrow’s reclusive sister, Henry’s homily was a love letter to the similarly elusive soul of financial restraint. Henry’s open missive to the Kop sought to justify the contentious actions of his Fenway Sports Group in the newly-closed transfer window. Admirable in his intent, namely communicating with the club’s lifeblood, Henry provided a window on the owner-manager-player-supporter dynamic in the modern game. Some of Henry’s observations defied belief. Others introduced some welcome perspective in the ‘Greed Is Good’ world of the Premier League.” Telegraph – Henry Winter